Inexpressible
by MsKurumi
Summary: After the fall of Beacon, everyone scatters and breaks apart. A small reprieve is all they're given before things start to escalate from bad to worse. With team RWBY disbanded temporarily, team JNPR seeking revenge, Beacon destroyed, and communication practically gone, their enemies have the biggest head start.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first time posting on this website, but I love reading from here. So I decided to contribute to some of my favorite fandoms. This story is also up on AO3 under my other pen name Kumiko (It has the same name).**

 **This has multiple POVs, but I'll split them up so it won't be confusing. I'll give warnings if a chapter has graphic (descriptive) violence, but that's really all that needs to be warned about.**

 **If there is anything that isn't right grammatically, please tell. This isn't completely canon compliant, and I might or might not use some material from the upcoming new season in October.**

 **Summary:** _After the fall of Beacon, everyone scatters and breaks apart. A small reprieve is all they're given before things start to escalate from bad to worse. With team RWBY disbanded temporarily, team JNPR seeking revenge, Beacon destroyed, and communication practically gone, their enemies have the biggest head start._

 **Pairings:** _Mercury Black/Yang Xiao Long; Weiss Schnee/Neptune Vasilias; Blake Belladonna/Sun Wukong; Jaune Arc/Pyrrha Nikos; Lie Ren/Nora Valkyrie; Glynda Goodwitch/Ozpin; Past Blake Belladonna/Adam Taurus_

 **Anyway, RWBY doesn't belong to me.**

* * *

Beacon fell. That's all that really got a reaction out of Yang these days. Well, that and the elephant in the room. Her arm was gone. Sure, tons of people got prosthetics these days. That sort of technology wasn't new. It was affordable to nearly anyone in need. Taiyang, her father, and Uncle Qrow were polar opposites in their reaction to her glaringly obvious disposition. Her father wanted her home, to forget about ever being at Beacon, fighting grimm, and her friends... Uncle Qrow kept telling her that Ruby was gone, to nab Cinder. He kept saying she needed to get herself together when the world was falling apart. 

To be perfectly honest, Yang couldn't care less about the world falling apart. The only thing she could feel was lost and anger. Anger from Weiss was forced back into her father's grasp when she'd finally decided to leave. Anger from Ruby leaving without saying a word. Anger from Cinder taking down Beacon and killinh Pyrrha. Anger from people who kept telling her to get over it or deal. Lost because she didn't know what to do. 

Yang valued her fighting skills as everything. Now, she would be bedridden because of prosthetic surgery? Did she even have time? And there was the anger again. Could she even fight anymore? After what Adam did... he took more than her ability to fight. Yang didn't need someone telling her that. She was always confident in her skills. Her consequential defeat only proved that her arrogance and luck had finally run out. 

After what Blake did, Yang couldn't decide on how pissed she was. Blake just... ran. She didn't visit, send a letter, drop a call, or anything. Yang lost her arm for Blake, and Blake just left her to sweep up the dust off her dignity. She balled up her fist, wanting to hit something, but that drove a reminder that she lost an arm. And the circle of anger looped again. 

There was a knock on the door, but it opened without her approval. It wasn't like she would talk anyway. It was Uncle Qrow. His face looked more drawn lately. He often kept a close eye on Ruby, and his search for Ozpin wasn't going well. He sauntered into the room, looking out the window casually. 

"How long are you going to do this to yourself?" He asked in his usual raspy, caustic tone. The words bit harder than they should've. Yang was trying to decide. It wasn't easy when she felt stretched to the point of breaking. Or maybe she already had. 

"I don't know." She said softly, turning to the window. She could feel his eyes on her, and they were full of judgment. 

"I thought you were going to keep moving forward. I thought you wanted to be a huntress. This? This is a minor hiccup, Yang; and this little pity party of yours is beneath you." Qrow said. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion and minor irritation. For some reason, that infuriated her. 

"You think I don't know that? I noticed the lack of prosthetics on you, so maybe you don't understand, but this isn't exactly easy adjusting to. I'm tired of picking up the pieces after a loss. I'm tired of adjusting. I just... need a break." She deflated. Qrow wouldn't care about her reasoning. To him, she stopped trying, and maybe he was right. 

Yang looked to Qrow, worried about his silence and flinched from the pain on his face. "I understand your problem perfectly, Yang. That's why I need you to get back on your feet. Ruby needs you. I won't sugar coat things, but the world needs more hunters and huntresses. Without the Internet to communicate with other kingdoms, things are worse than ever. Grimm are everywhere. Yang, things aren't going to get better any time soon." He stood up, still looking irritated. "Ruby went to Haven. She's going after Cinder. She's... not 100%, but she's trying. For you, Weiss, Blake, and Jaune." 

Yang felt her stomach seize. It was a low blow; telling her the condition of the world and Ruby hiking through it. Yang couldn't stay here. But I can't go either. Missing arm and all that jazz. 

Yang's mind flitted towards the only gift her mom conveniently left. A lone sword. It was dark gray with a bronze handle. Yang used to practice sword fighting when she was younger, to feel a connection to the woman called Raven. Raven was a faceless person that Yang desperately wanted to impress. She'd always wanted to impress her mother, even though the woman didn't want to know Yang. 

There was no time like the present to re-learn sword fighting. And there were plenty of targets everywhere. Yang needed the thrill of life and death back. The loud thumping of her heart, the roaring, seductive rush of blood in her ears. The siren's call was strong, and she'd never been more thankful for it. 

Qrow was right. She was needed. This wouldn't bring her down. Adam wouldn't being her down. She was Yang Xiao Long, daughter of Taiyang Xiao Long and Raven Branwen. She would not be so easily defeated. Those two months of a sedentary life were over. Yang needed to be Yang again. That stayed with hunting grimm, and being the best. 

Yang felt her semblance stir. A feeling she'd lost for two months. A feeling she wouldn't lose again. 

* * *

Taiyang was losing his mind. He was doing his best looking for Ruby, taking care of Yang, and killing grimm that were getting too close to his home for comfort. Soon, it wouldn't be safe anywhere. He just wanted his girls safe. It wasn't a crime to be a protective father. Letting them go to Beacon had been a mistake. He couldn't believe he'd let Qrow talk him into it. His eldest had lost an arm and fallen into depression, his youngest was who knows where looking for some monster. 

Most days he wanted to strangle Qrow. He still could, and he wouldn't even be wrong. Being a huntress had cost Summer and Raven their life in two different ways. It wasn't wrong of him to want to stay away from the very things that stole his happiness. 

Taiyang finished making rabbit stew for Yang. Something she used to enjoy. As he opened the door, he saw her unmade, empty bed. He dropped his tray, feeling a disgusting sense of deja vu. "Qrow!" 

Taiyang wanted to stab or shoot something. Qrow was a likely candidate. When the idiot himself showed up, Taiyang glowered at him. "Are you satisfied now?" 

"What are you talking about now?" Qrow sighed. He had the audacity to sigh as if Taiyang was the annoyance. "They're gone! Ruby and Yang are both gone! Aren't you satisfied? Or can you not be satisfied until one of them dies this time, like Summer?" He said, voice breaking along with his rage. 

Qrow looked like he'd been stabbed repeatedly. Taiyang knew he should apologize, but he wouldn't. Qrow needed to know what his selfishness could cause. "Tai... I'm-" 

"You bring my girls back, do you hear me? You bring them back in one piece, or I will kill you this time." He promised. Raven's brother or not, he was done entertaining Qrow's stupidity where his daughters' lives lay. He could only respect their decisions so much. Surely they would forgive him in time, but he was a parent. Their safety would always be more important than anything else. 

Taiyang didn't decide to calm down until Qrow was gone. He hoped there were enough grimm outside for him to release his anger. 

* * *

Ruby followed behind Jaune, Nora, and Ren. Nora talked a mile a minute, inviting Ruby to join her in the rambling, which she did. Ren even spoke a couple of times, but Jaune remained silent. It was frightening how calm he looked. It had only been two months since Ruby failed to save Pyrrha. Two months since everything fell apart. 

"Hey, Ruby; you stopped your story." Nora said, bouncing as if her attention was completely invested in the story. 

"Oh! Um... silly me. Where was I again?" She couldn't get lost in thought, not with them. Not with Jaune around. Every screw up seemed to magnify around him, even when he wasn't paying attention. She kept thinking of failing him, her team, and everyone at Beacon. She kept reminiscing about her powers. 

"You were telling us about how Weiss would shout at you for drooling in class." Right. Why would she tell that embarrassing story? It wasn't anything special, but maybe that was why she missed it so much. It represented a time in her life where she didn't feel like a failure. 

All of it stemmed from Cinder. Ruby fantasized about killing the woman, night and day. She envisioned the way she would kill her, and that scared her. It scared her on an instinctual level. Her entire being was against her rage for Cinder. The gravity of murder should scare her, but she had done it before. She helped kill faunus from the White Fang. 

She didn't even mourn their death, now that she thought about it. She just... did it. That was when she noticed the silver in her eyes dim. She wanted to call her Uncle Qrow or share her fears with Yang, but things were too hectic. 

Ruby was mastering the ability to talk without thinking because Nora's laugh shook her from her mind. "That's hilarious!" 

Ruby had no idea what she said, or what story she'd been telling this time. All she knew was that Nora and Ren were losing the tension in their aura. Jaune's remained at a steady calm Ruby envied. 

"Where exactly are we going in Haven?" Ruby asked. She knew that, without transportation, it would take them about five more days to reach Haven. There was no guarantee Haven would allow them. They were the students of Beacon. 

"Nora and Ren will go to Haven academy, and you and I will look through the slums. There's bound to be rumors somewhere. With the fall of communication between kingdoms, information won't be cheap. So along the way we're going to be collecting info." Jaune said with that easy smile on his face. 

Ruby was astonished at the plan. Had Jaune always been so smart? The plan was well thought out, and Ruby felt ashamed. While she'd been on her head, Jaune had been focused on things he could actually do. Another strike went against her, and she couldn't summon the power to look him in the eyes. She was afraid he'd know what a failure she was and how unreliable she is. 

Ruby missed Yang. Yang would have an easy smile on her face, and a cheesy joke that would break the ice. She missed the easygoing days. "Ruby?" Jaune asked for what seemed like the third time. 

"Yes! I-I'm sorry, Jaune. What'd you say?' She stuttered, trying to regain a sense of calm. 

"It's alright. I just asked if it was okay with you to go information hunting with me." Jaune said, looking her in the eyes, stripping her of coherent thoughts. 

"Of course!" She nodded. She would do much better. She had to make it up to Jaune; she had to redeem herself to all of them. And if killing Cinder would do it, she would relish killing the woman like a pig. 

* * *

Weiss was the spoiled, protected princess again. Her father had relegated her to being a doll. She couldn't do anything without being accompanied. After the tragedy of the Vytal festival, her leash had only gotten tighter. Her father wanted to hide her weapons away, but Weiss convinced him that if grimm ever attacked, she'd be defenseless. Playing on her father's heart strings was cruel, but she couldn't let him have everything. 

She was Weiss Schnee, and she didn't need her father's money or influence. Especially not now that the world was falling apart. All she heard about her team was that Ruby was unconscious, Yang was incapacitated, and Blake was MIA. Everything was going spectacularly well for the monster who did this. They had striped every hunter and huntress' morale to a miniscule amount of nothing. 

Weiss wanted nothing more than to just leave, but she couldn't. Her father would expect her to leave... or stay... UGH! Weiss paced her room quietly. Her father had given her a bed time that he wanted obeyed, and despite all the rebellion she wanted to release, her father was not a man to keep pushing. He was very powerful, and not only money-wise. 

Weiss really wanted to know what was going on, but communication between all kingdoms was shut down, courtesy of Beacon's falling. If only she'd been better and faster, maybe her and Ruby could've done something more. Except, Ruby had done something. It was Weiss who failed. Ruby had done something really weird. Qrow, Ms. Goodwitch, and Ironwood all collected Ruby, while Weiss' father collected her. 

She couldn't imagine what they all knew. All she knew was that a blinding white light knocked her on her butt and immobolized every grimm around her. At times like these, Weiss missed her friends and Neptune. He had become a source of strength for her. 

A quiet knock came to her door. Weiss opened the door to see her sister's small smile. Weiss held in her squeal, but hugged Winter all the same. Winter patted her head and closed the door. 

"Father has been trying to pull strings to rope me back to his side." She began, and sat on Weiss' bed patting the area beside her. "What are you going to do? If you stay here, no one will blame you." Winter said quietly. 

"I'll blame myself. I have a plan to leave, but..." Weiss began.

"But?" 

"I have no idea where to go, Winter. Ruby might be comatose, Yang can't fight right now, and Blake is wherever. I don't know where to go, who to help. Team RWBY is over with." 

Winter sighed. "Your team needs you right now, more than ever before. Find them. Put your team back together. We could really use everyone's help at the moment. Weiss you are exceptional. You told me you even used your summon. Hone your skills. Become the huntress you always envisioned. It doesn't get easier from here." 

Weiss slowly nodded. She needed them, even if they were in a rough spot. Winter smirked. "I heard from a certain bird that Ruby is with some friends looking for Cinder. She could use her teammate." 

"How dare that idiot go without me?" Weiss said, grounding her teeth. Ruby would need her help. She was an idiot for going with a different team. Did Ruby think she could ignore her friends to pursue the very person who ruined everything? No, she needed a firm scolding. She would find Ruby and Blake.

"Do you know where she went?" 

"Maybe her father knows. Now that you've got a quest, what will you do?" 

"Stop my friend from fighting without her team." Ruby was reckless alone and with unfamiliar settings. Weiss really needed her to be safe. "I'm leaving tonight. I can't waste a single minute."

Winter smirked. "Figured as much. I already packed your stuff. Go before father comes up here." 

Weiss closed her eyes. "Thank you so much, Winter. See you." Weiss said, escaping through her window. Her sword rested at her hip, her back pack filled with provisions and dust. She wouldn't fail her team. 

* * *

Blake was alone. She'd forgotten what being on her own was like. She'd grown too accustomed to having someone at her back; having a peaceful, full sleep. For two months she'd tried to get back into the habit of being on the run, being a shadow. 

She went from littered towns, seeing grimm causing absolute destruction. _This is all my fault._ If she had stopped Adam when she had the chance, no one would be suffering. Yang would still have her arm. Yang suffered because Blake kept her secrets. Blake didn't deserve to be around Yang. Especially not now while Adam had the White Fang searching for her and her friends. The best way to protect them was to stay away from them. 

_Oh, so that's your brilliant idea, huh? Just leave us alone to the mercy of your ex-boyfriend. Newsflash, Ruby and Weiss don't know what he looks like. And he can just finish me off, but you don't care. You're nothing but a coward! Always getting people hurt, and then running away when things get hard._ Yang's voice snarled. 

Blake could see Yang as if she were right before her, pissed and, extremely, unamused. Every word drove a sword through Blake's chest. A scar to match the stab wound from Adam, the man she loved and wanted to save. Blake deserved this. 

The fake image of Yang scoffed as she rolled her eyes. _So you're just going to hide and sulk? You don't get to do that. Not when Adam is killing people looking for you. Take some responsibility!_

Blake stood from her crouch in an abandoned building that literally crumbled around her. She wished Yang were really in front of her, giving her those talks about trusting her team. The team was no more, though. Too much happened. Yang would never forgive Blake for getting her hurt. 

_Just come back to me, baby. Be honest, the whole school thing was excessive. You were relieved when things went south. Come to me, and I won't hurt you._ Adam's voice coaxed. It brought tears to Blake's eyes. She would never go back to him, but it made her miss the man he once was. It made her miss when he fought for equality and not dominance. She should've fought to save him instead of running. 

The voices berated her, and she fell asleep to them like they were a sonata filling her ears.


	2. Chapter 2

**I'll be updating this story until it's caught up with the AO3 version, so expect four more chapters after this. After I'm caught up, I'll post updates of Sunday.**

 **This story is more action and adventure than romance at this point. The romance will happen later.**

 **Please tell me if there are any grammatically errors.**

 **Disclaimer:** _I don't own RWBY or the characters; just the story._

* * *

Glynda Goodwitch and James Ironwood searched the wreckage of Ozpin's hard work. James still beat himself up over everything that happened, but he never showed Glynda. Ever the soldier, he simply ignored that it was okay to take some time to cool down. Although, Glynda wasn't a good model for doing that. She'd hardly even slept these days. Who could blame her or James? They needed to eliminate all the grimm at Beacon to restore order, but for everyone grimm they eliminated, ten more spawned. The Dragon grimm bled grimm, so that made matters even worse.

Most days, Glynda wanted to curl up and sleep. To just forget this ever happened. Without Ozpin, things escalated from chaos to absolute pandemonium. Every other kingdom needed information or assistance, but it was incredibly hard with Beacon out of commission. So villages were falling left and right, hunters and huntresses were dying just as quickly, and nobody knew what was really going on.

"Glynda..." James' voice brought her out of her thoughts. "What?"

"My men have come back with no news of Ozpin, but from the carnage, the woman was the only one injured. Ozpin is alive." James said, relief practically spilling from his smile. It was great news. None of them expected Ozpin to be dead, but doubt set in after the fifth week of no signs.

"That's excellent news." She said quietly, breathing in fresh air that dispelled the panic.

"It truly is." Qrow's raspy voice interrupted from behind them. Neither of them jumped, too accustomed to Qrow's antics. "Just having his staff was unnerving. We've got another problem."

James groaned. "What could possibly not be wrong?"

"Well, besides the White Fang getting academy officials to grant them permission to stay in their kingdom, nothing else."

"You have got to be kidding me!" Glynda said surprising the other two. "As if things between us and the White Fang are even there. Why is this happening?" If they were to get Beacon back on track, the White Fang could easily threaten to take down another academy. The cycle would never end. Whoever was running the White Fang was smarter than she wanted to give them credit for.

"Yeah," Qrow began while crossing his arms, "we're screwed fifty ways to Sunday. They're smart, and our morale is too low. I'm surprised it took them two months. They seem to work efficiently and effectively. We need to recapture Beacon soon. To restore some sort of order."

"Which we can't do without Ozpin. One look at my face on screen, and everyone will probably run towards the White Fang." James said while running the bridge of his nose. James was probably beating himself up again.

Qrow patted James' shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up over this. What's done is done. We have to find Ozpin now."

The insensitive question of "where" hung over their heads. What did they even know about Ozpin, anyway? Where would he go? Glynda really needed a handful of sleeping pills.

* * *

Jaune practiced hand-to-hand by himself. He envisioned every person who looked down on him. He saw his parents who scolded him, telling him if he had just stayed at home, he wouldn't be hurting for some girl. They said some girl as if Pyrrha wasn't amazing, as if she wasn't perfection. His Pyrrha who died because of his short-comings. He knew Ruby felt terrible about what happened, but it was on him. He was weak; so Pyrrha fought Cinder alone. If he could only activate his aura better. If he could only fight with a sword better. If he could only use his semblance.

Every thought was accentuated with a kick. "Concentrate, Jaune. You have to be better than I was. Cinder defeated me. You have to be better." Pyrrha's beautiful voice covered over him. He felt her hands on him, guiding him through every move he'd seen a million times, and didn't memorize. Do you believe in destiny? If only he'd understood what was going on sooner. If only he was enough for her. If only Ozpin had never chosen his Pyrrha.

Ren and Nora were gauging his are-you-okay meter; so he pretended he was fine. Ren was still upset, and Nora tried to hide from him, but he'd known them long enough to know their tells. Nora was faking for Ren, and Ren faked for her.

Ruby was obviously lost in thought. She couldn't look him on the eye, but that was okay. He wouldn't force her to deal with anything when he couldn't either. Pyrrha's hands massaged his shoulders like he used to massage hers. "Jaune, practice with your shield. Remember? We're Arkos. You need to be enough to take down Cinder."

Jaune nodded. "I'll be more than enough, Pyrrha."

Jaune mixed his own skills with the ones Pyrrha used. For two months he'd pushed his body beyond its limits to be stronger. He cut the air three times, and threw his shield like Pyrrha had. Then he flipped and caught his shield, stabbing the visions of grimm. "I'll be more than enough, Pyrrha."

He could hear Ren, Nora, and Ruby approaching his area. Jaune quickly recovered from his hallucinations. He knew Pyrrha was dead. Knew that he failed her, but seeing her kept him leveled. It helped him not breakdown. A breakdown was highly unappreciated at the moment, especially while searching for Cinder.

"Hey, Jaune." Nora said in a subdued voice. "I figured you were still around here."

He nodded, but Ruby broke the silence. "Jaune...i know you haven't been the same since... everything happened. I don't expect you to be. Pyrrha meant the world to everyone. But... we need to talk about this. Talk about everything."

Jaune knew Ruby was trying to help, trying to repent for what Cinder did, but Jaune could never tell them. He couldn't tell his family when he started seeing Pyrrha outside of his dreams. They would never understand it led him on this mission. He needed to be okay. Fake it until you make it, Jaune. He told himself.

"You're right. Things haven't just been complicated lately. We should talk about this... all of us. I know you guys aren't okay either. I'll go first." And Jaune mustered up a lie to calm all their fears.

* * *

Yang encountered a beowulf. They were the bottom of the food chain for grimm, and Yang was having the hardest time with running. Walking had been hard enough. She was Yang though. Stopping or running was beneath know, with a prosthetic arm, this would be about 70% easier. There was the annoying voice again. A deep, emotionless, bored voice that drove home that no one would be saving her wireless behind.

The beowulf roared, summoning about two others, which wasn't fair. Yang could barely hold her sword. Concentrating was terrible as her balance kept leaning left, as if her remaining arm was in the wrong.

Her body chose now to remind Yang of her arm with phantom tingles in her shoulder. Her body must've been mocking how pathetic she looked. "Listen, I'm not in the mood for this crap." She ran to her right, and felt the tipping of her body and her equilibrium was thrown off. I can do this! Why can't I do this? I have to do this! Move!Every command to her body was a stark reminder of her disability.

The beowulf swooped her off her feet, and she flew into a tree. Her sword flew out of her hand, and she felt a slap to her face. She gasped at the intensity of the pain. This strangely reminded her of when she'd been saved, except nobody would save her this time. Pick up your weapon, you fool. I thought I told you I wouldn't be saving you again? Get on your feet, or you can just die here against a beowulf. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

Yang wanted to charge into the fight, but the words of a disembodied Raven felt worse than the smack from the beowulf. She lost her arm in the first place because of her impatience. Yang picked up her sword and recounted all the times Weiss fought. She was always level headed. Probably the most level headed off the team, not that she could trust them all. Weiss would never have rushed into the building with only her fists to fight Adam. No, she would've used dust or distracted him. Yang was a fool.

Yang let the beowulf attack first. It swiped its claws as Yang ducked and cut straight through its stomach . The other two beowulf approached at once. She foolishly panicked, earning her another hit that caused her to hit the ground and roll. Yang summoned the strength to pick herself up. Of course she wouldn't be an expert at fighting already. It was a wonder she hadn't encountered more Adams before. She had prided herself in her illusion of grandeur.

This time, Yang waited for them to attack get again, which they gladly did. They attacked at once. She dodged one attack and sliced the head of the second. Yang wanted to jump with joy, but she couldn't. Not yet when there was one more beowulf. She didn't wait this time; taking advantage of the beowulf's slowness, Yang kicked the foot from under the grimm, and quickly decapitated it.

She was too open for comfort. Yang walked around for some sort of comfort.

Wow. You almost died from three rookie grimm. I don't know if I should congratulate you on down grading, or being stupid enough to fought them all at once. This was Blake's voice. Her traitorous words still burned Yang in a way her semblance never could. Blake's leaving was painful. Blake doesn't tell her what Adam said. Heck, Yang doesn't even know who Adam was outside of their short fight.

What did she know about Blake? No, it should be what don't you know about me? I mean, this isn't even the first time I've done this. It's just the first time you've seen someone nearly killed because of it. Yang really wished Blake would just disappear.

How many more times can Yang be hurt by someone she trusted or barely knew? Ruby was the only one Yang wanted to see anymore. Oh, please. Other Yang said with a scoff. You don't even trust Ruby anymore. You just feel like an afterthought where she's concerned. You got your arm hacked off, and your dad is more concerned about Ruby. It's always been that way. Like when you looked for Raven and was attacked. Taiyang scolded you because ofRuby.

Yang didn't want to hear this, but Other her made a convincing opening statement. Every since whatever happened, even Qrow was more concerned about Ruby. She bet Taiyang and Qrow hadn't even noticed her leave.

I wouldn't blame them. You're blaming them because you're weak. Raven snarked. Ruby is stronger than you. And all you're going to do is whine. I can't believe I wasted my time having you. You could've been something.

Yang staggered to a city that looked abandoned from the grimm. The place looked leveled and looted. It was recent, so there was a chance for canned food or something to drink. It appeared that the grimm had ransacked the place too. Her adventure was only getting started. This adventure reminded her of how she'd always been on her own.

* * *

Blake didn't need to be a genius to see that the White Fang were training and "recruiting" for something big. She could fake her acceptance, but then Adam would know she were there. He would find her, her friends, and kill them. Panic seized her completely. She couldn't go back to her former team. They didn't deserve this nightmare.

Because of her, innocent faunus were being forced into the White Fang. Blake growled quietly. She refused to let anyone else be hurt because she was a coward like Yang said.

Blake jumped down from the building she was perched on, and she took it her weapons. One of her former teammates noticed her, and gasped. "You're-"

They never finished the sentence as Blake did what she always did. Kill. Blake slashed twice at the enemy, and kicked the other two in the head. She back flipped out of the way as a grunt opened fire. She used her semblance to appear behind the faunus and stab him in the back of the neck. All White Fang in the area heard and approached to assist. Blake turned and started shooting and cutting anyone in sight. She cut the hand off one enemy, and was cut on the back. She staggered forward, but used her semblance to jump backwards from inside the circle they trapped her in.

Blake grabbed one enemy and used them as a meat shield when the bullets started spraying. The enemy cried out in pain, but Blake carried on. These monsters that she released in the world needed to be eliminated. She had to do this. Keep telling yourself that. She ignored the voice, and kept killing her former allies.

Before she knew it, she stood before the last White Fang member in her sight. The thought that all these people used to look up to her, obey her commands, and share her views should shock her, but it didn't. They were all enemies, and if it came to it, they wouldn't hesitate to catch her or kill her.

She needed to keep her thoughts together on things. She betrayed the White Fang, but she wouldn't betray team RWBY.

* * *

Emerald patted Cinder's forehead and hid her panic. It'd been months since Cinder fought with that Ruby girl, the girl Emerald would've been friends with had their lives been different. Had she been more trusting and not jaded to reality, she would be fighting Cinder too. Emerald was thankful that she wasn't naive where things were concerned.

Currently, Adam and Cinder were discussing their battle strategy.

"My White Fang has increased in members exponentially. With your plan to take down Beacon, tensions are rising. It should be even easier to kill those pathetic people. My only question, partner, is why you're laying in bed, sick, when things still need to be done?" Adam said in that nonconforming, I-don't-care-for-you voice. Emerald wanted to snap at him, but she feared for her life. Adam Taurus was a faunus to be feared. Even with the power of the maidens, Emerald feared that they would still have a tough fight.

"Please, have patience. I know something that will quell your anxiety. Ruby Rose. She's a friend of your Blake's. She is also roaming around in Vale unattended. If you find her, I can guarantee that you'll find the girl you're looking for."

Emerald did a mental high five to Cinder. Keeping Adam occupied, and off their butts was a definite plus for them. Adam didn't even wait to think things through. "Fine. I'll leave. Don't forget that you said we'd take down every pillar of order around." He left just as suave as he came in. How he found them so easily was a complete mystery to her.

Mercury groan in annoyance. "Are you kidding me? We're going after the freaky light girl? What about the maidens? I thought that was still a priority."

Cinder looked at Mercury, slightly annoyed. "It is a priority. I just needed Mister Taurus to leave."

Mercury seemed to match her expression, and then calm down. "What will we be doing in the meantime?"

While they were in Haven, which hadn't been attacked, the laws became stricter with each day. No one wanted a repeat of Beacon. Along with the stricter laws, discrimination was also up against faunus. Apparently, blaming every faunus born magically made things better. Cinder looked unperturbed by their stagnant progress. Emerald knew that Cinder took orders from her boss, and for months, she hadn't reported in with anything useful.

"Why don't you just eliminate the grimm outside? Emerald, you join him too." Emerald nodded at the order, while Mercury kept a blank face and obeyed. He looked far from pleased but knew he wouldn't get a better answer.


	3. Chapter 3

Weiss looked around the cities of Vale… or what was once great cities of Vale. The place looked completely wrecked. In a couple of months, the Kingdom of Vale had greatly deteriorated. Weiss didn't know where to start where Ruby was concerned. She felt half terrified and half in disbelief.

Her failure led to the fall of Beacon. She shook her head. I can't believe how arrogant I am. She couldn't believe what she was seeing all around, but she knew that Beacon didn't fall because of her. She was merely a small component that couldn't prevent the inevitable.

She wished she could have a do-over. Yang would know how to navigate through this mess with ease. Yang was extraordinary in adapting. She imagined that Yang would be on the fast track to getting a prosthetics, and punching the crap out of Blake for leaving.

Weiss looked at the television that was guarded in thick bars for protection. It was disgusting that everything looked like it was barred down to prevent thievery. That should be the least of anyone's problems. But nevertheless, the television was locked onto the news, and it broadcasted the aftermath of Beacon. It looked terrible. The ground was in tatters, the building was covered in grimm, and she could hear the reporter saying that Glynda Goodwitch was regaining stability within Beacon, but it wouldn't matter.

Weiss heard a man next to her scowl. "Those idiots couldn't even protect their own students. How dare they say they'll restore order? Do they think we're idiots?" He turned to a woman who nodded her head in total agreement. "I saw the whole thing go down. Studentswere fighting against those White Fang monsters. Can you believe that? My daughter almost lost her life defending those cowards, and we didn't even get so much as a "thank you"."

Hearing their complaints made it hard for Weiss to defend Ms. Goodwitch, Professor Ozpin, and Ironwood. She, who'd been in the middle of everything, hadn't gotten so much as a "what's up". She wanted to confront them on what was actually happening. There was no way the White Fang were done. They had succeeded in destroying Beacon. She just wished she knew where they were headed to next.

But she wasn't an idiot. She had an objective; that objective started with finding Ruby and, hopefully, Yang at their home. She was happy Yang did that Let's Get To Know Each Other night. She knew where they lived, although Blake didn't say where she lived, which made sense. Blake was in the White Fang before Beacon. Now would've been the perfect time to know how they operated.

Weiss shook her head to focus. After she found Ruby and Yang, she would do something about this. She was a Schnee, and she had an obligation to the people of Vale.

* * *

Sun Wukong finished kicking another person as Neptune Vasilias took out the faunus behind Sun. Ever since last month, Team SSSN had disbanded. He was sure it was only temporary, but everyone's parents dragged them home. It was better this way, really. Neptune had rejected his parent's "comfort", which was code for house arrest. With everyone freaking out like this, mass panic was rampant. Sun appreciated that Neptune stuck beside him through this chaos.

Sun would've been in a town, gathering information, but with the hatred for faunus, he shouldn't have expected anything different. He had had an entire town run him out, trying to capture him and kill him for simply being a faunus. Neptune followed because a "faunus sympathizer" was the same as a faunus.

"Where to next?" Neptune asked looking around, paranoid of anything humanoid or grimm. Sun hated himself a little for doing this to his friend, even inadvertently. But Sun Wukong wouldn't ever show fear in the face of difficulty.

Sun thought to himself. He remembered passing a few faunus who'd been shunned and beaten. Faunus who were definitely considering joining the White Fang. If Sun and Neptune could rally them together, they might have a fighting chance. Every faunus and "faunus sympathizer" deserved protection. He thought of Blake in that moment.

Blake, who'd disappeared without so much as a word, would definitely had formed a group. He imagined her already being in a group, fighting the White Fang, avenging Yang.

"What if we formed a group? A reform of the White Fang that's for peace with humans and faunus?" Sun suggested, fighting the urge to looked down. Neptune thought for a minute and smirked. "There's the Sun I know! That's a brilliant idea! We'll need a base though and a solid ideology. We'll save people from this nightmare. Let's do it."

Sun nodded, relieved the idea wasn't as stupid as he had originally thought. "Come on. Let's go find those people in that shack." It bothered him that people had been relegated to a shack, where they'd been locked in. Sun, stupidly, asked the villagers to release the people, and as a result he'd been run off. This time, he'd just be his impulsive self and help the people.

Neptune suggested they wait until night. Faunus had night vision, and it would be easier to move in the dark. Sun really had lucked out by being paired with Neptune. Sun knew Neptune wanted to find Weiss, but her father snatched her the instant things went terribly wrong. Sun wished he'd dragged Blake with him, instead of leaving her in the hospital alone.

Concentrate, moron. Stop thinking about your maybe-girlfriend. People could lose their lives because of the White Fang. Sun reminded himself. He'd already decided he would do this, so he would.

Sun and Neptune waited until night when they moved to the shack. Sun hit the lock repeatedly, careful of making too much noise. He heard a breath of relief. He held a finger to his lips. "You have to be quiet. Follow me and my partner." He pointed to Neptune, who waved.

Sun watched the houses, heart beating furiously, and followed the young child that came out of the shack. It sickened him that even children had been punished for their DNA. They all ran when they left the town. Neptune had found an abandoned house during the day for them to all sleep in until sunrise.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" The older male whispered loudly. He must've been the father of the three children. The older woman held the youngest child tightly. "How could we ever repay you?"

This was the moment. If Sun didn't word this properly, he could come off sounding like the radical White Fang, or he could all out offend these people to where they would reject him completely. "Will you join my reform group? It's called the Reticio. It's something I created," nevermind how recently it'd been created, "that will focus on saving faunus and humans alike. I want to help people just like you and me who have nowhere to go because of what happened."

Neptune gave him a thumbs up. Sun was also impressed with how diplomatic he sounded. He was sure that he would fumble the words, or accidentally -blatantly -put blame on the White Fang. To achieve peace was through forgiving and being cautious. He couldn't call them a peace group if he started with hatred.

The father stared at Sun for a while, and looked to his family. "Where would we go?"

Sun drew up a blank. It must've showed because Neptune saved him. "Traveling, with us. We can't ensure anywhere is safe; not with everything that's happened. If you could travel with us, help us, we'd greatly appreciate it."

The man looked to his wife, who nodded once. She spoke. "We have nowhere else to go. If you can ensure, at least, our children's lives, we'll follow you."

Sun knew the answer to this. "We will do more than our best to make sure you all are safe." With that, they nodded their approval to his proposition. Sun looked to Neptune. Their job had just gotten increasingly harder, but they wouldn't fail.

* * *

Qrow had followed a lead all the way to Vacuo, looking for Ozpin, and the rewards for all that hard work was absolutely nothing. He'd encountered about a ton of grimm along the way. His number one priority was Ozpin; although he wished he could've been looking for Ruby and Yang.

Qrow hated all this crap. He wanted Ozpin to magically appear with that secretive smile. He wanted for his nieces to be perfectly fine. He hated himself for goading Yang, and not telling her to just get the damn prosthetic arm. No, his goading had the opposite effect. She ran.

Summer would probably berate him for his screw up and Raven would give him a swift punch in the jaw. Neither had ever wanted their daughters to face a war. Despite Raven's icy disposition where anyone was concerned, she truly cared and loved them all.

Taiyang would never forgive Qrow, even if they were returned safely. The sheer fact that they'd been in any danger was more than enough for him.

So here Qrow was, looking for three different people and coming up with none. He hoped Glynda and James were doing better off than him in the Grimm Removal Operation. He couldn't wait until some things started to clear up. They were completely knocked off their feet, and their enemies weren't slowing down at all.

* * *

Lie Ren was many things, but he wasn't a fool. He knew when he'd been lied to, and Jaune's "heart to heart" with everyone wasn't honest in the slightest. Ren had agreed to Jaune's merger attempt at addressing the issue at first, but when he heard the actual words spew from Jaune's mouth, he wanted to -the first time in a long time -actually punch someone.

Losing Pyrrha had been devastating to all of them, and he knew that Jaune was hurting more than anyone could fully comprehend. He also knew that any attempt at pulling figurative teeth with Jaune would only make Jaune snap at him. Losing Pyrrha had hurt Jaune on a level he'd never experienced before, and his family -from what Ren had heard -weren't the most understanding; especially since they would use any excuse to keep their son from getting killed himself.

Ren coped with the death of a dear friend like he coped with every painful thing. He simply let Nora express it, and then he comforted her. It's how he's always dealt with things. Ren knew that Nora knew Jaune had hidden things from them. He and Nora were on the same wavelength like that.

She looked at him, as if she could read his mind. She leaned close to him; to whisper keeping whatever she wanted to say from Ruby and Jaune's ears. "You know we can't talk to him about this, right?" Of course she'd known what Ren had been thinking. He simply nodded.

There was nothing he could say to Jaune anyway when they were both emotionally constipated enough. It would've been the height of hypocrisy if he confronted Jaune about his coping of losing the woman, Ren was sure, Jaune loved.

Ruby piped up looking at a battered sign. "Look, you guys! We're almost to a town." They were near the outskirts of Beacon's domain. Soon they would be far from any building as they drew closer to the shores. Even then, it'd be hard to get across the waters separating Vale from Mistral. Mistral held Sanctum and Haven Academy, but with how Vale fell, it was in the air about how the natives in Mistral would treat them.

Jaune had a small smile as he looked at Ruby. To the outsider, the smile might have looked like an older sibling looking fondly at someone; to anyone that really knew much about facades, it was a shell of a person pretending to care about a person they didn't want to hurt.

The look only brought a small bit of relief from Ren. At least under there was a shred of the old Jaune who loved and looked after everyone. Ruby still tried hard to pretend like she didn't hate herself, but it was obvious to everyone how she felt. A girl like Ruby shouldn't have seen anything like what happened in Beacon. A girl like Ruby was easy to shatter against the evil that was Cinder.

"Soon, we'll split up. Ruby and I will get the information, we'll come up with a battle strategy, and then you two can head to Mistral." Jaune said, stopping as they passed by a television. He turned his attention to the broadcast, looking at the giant grimm that covered what used to be a peaceful place.

Ruby looked petrified, but Jaune wrapped his arm around her head, to cover her view of the screen. "Come on, Ruby. We have some information to get."

Ren wanted to break the television, but he turned to Nora. They had a job of waiting until their leader knew where to point them. So they waited at the center of the city; staring at a cruel reminder of that night. Nora swung her legs on his and sighed with a small smile.

* * *

Emerald was worried. Something was up with Mercury. Ever since his unprecedented questioning of Cinder, she had kept an extra close eye on him. They were partners, but she wouldn't hesitate to take him down if it meant helping Cinder. She knew her fixation on Cinder was bordering on "definitely unhealthy", but she owed Cinder this. Cinder had saved her and Mercury. Emerald hadn't forgotten; surely Mercury hadn't either.

She followed him as he snuck out of the building. It wasn't Casual Mercury; no, this was a Mercury that was determined about something. Emerald was slightly annoyed that he'd never been this determined even on missions.

Mercury was sauntering through the shadows, and Emerald had a hard time of keeping her eyes trained on him. He reached an alleyway, and slunk out of the shadows. He flashed a flirtatious smile that made Emerald's stomach turn just a little.

He started talking, so Emerald crawled closer to hear.

"-that White Fang, huh?" He said, and the girl he spoke to giggled, disgustingly.

"Yeah, they're something else. Listen, I'll tell you more than what you asked for, if you give me a little something extra." She propositioned. Emerald was aghast at her brashness, but Mercury put that easy smile back on his face.

"I'll put in a lot more than "a little" depending on what you can tell me." He said and she leaned closer to him.

"So my friend is a faunus. She used to be in the White Fang herself. Used to work next to Adam Taurus' right hand man… er, lady. Blake Belladonna. The girl was a moony eyed idiot, according to my friend. She actually thought the White Fang was ever about equality." The woman laughed hard, and Mercury joined.

"Anyway, so after hearing about that nonsense at Beacon, I heard from my friend that the White Fang got a nice taste of superiority, and they want all the academies taken down. Not only do they want it, but they somehow increased their members and it can happen."

Mercury looked surprised at the news, but Emerald knew it was a ploy. "Wow, you are very informed. I would never guess what they were up to. Any idea why that Braid girl left?"

The woman shrugged, ignoring how he missaid Blake's name. "Maybe because she got her illusion bubble burst wide open. I think the reason why the White Fang is so crazy about her is because Adam and Black are -or were -a thing."

Emerald figured, but it was surprising how many others thought so as well. "See, Adam has only ever liked Blake alone, but after she left, he went a little crazy. Hence why they're practically dominating everything."

Mercury nodded at the information. His gaze was intense on the woman, but Emerald knew he was concentrating on what he just heard. The woman must've misread the look because she latched onto Mercury who only smirked. "We can finish talking at my place." She suggested and Mercury stepped back, bowing. "Lead the way, my lady."

Emerald turned from the scene. All he was doing was gathering information about their ally. That wasn't a cause for worry, was it? No, she was only paranoid because Cinder hadn't checked in with her boss, and Cinder was actually scared of the woman. Emerald shook her head and headed back to the cabin, completely unaware that she wasn't as good at spying as she believed she was.

* * *

Yang had only had water in the course of the three days she'd been gone. She had no form of navigation, so she had no idea where she was right now. Grimm popped out of literally everywhere. She was so exhausted because no one would let her sleep in their house, occupied or abandoned. She was stuck sleep deprived, hungry, and mentally drained.

Her mother's bland voice was taunting her, but Yang knew the voice was what she imagined Raven's voice as. The woman never even so much as spoken to Yang. The two times they met was to save her life, and apparently Saving My Daughter was a limited card to use.

"Are you done complaining yet? There's a town this way. If you'd been thinking with your brain and not your stomach, you'd know that. This is why Ruby was chosen as your group leader. Your "baby sister" that doesn't need your help anymore. Especially when you can't even walk right. By now, you could be selecting the prosthetic arm you, obviously, need."

"Shut up. You don't even care, so why are you pretending to?" Yang said, pissed off. How dare this woman taunt her? "I don't even know you!" She screamed into the hallucinations face.

"Then why are you trying to be like me? You own father doesn't even talk about me. Taiyang hasn't said my name in years, and you know that. It's always Summer this and Summer that. Qrow treats Ruby like a niece more than you, anyway."

"Uncle Qrow loves me!"

"Then why did he teach Ruby his fighting style when you were just as curious?"

Yang turned from the woman, suddenly hating Raven. Hating a woman she didn't even know. Except Raven said what Yang had jealously thought many times over. Ruby had been given the golden treatment because of Summer. Who was Summer anyway? Why was that woman more respected than Raven? Why did Yang always feel like an extension?

She knew Taiyang and Qrow loved her; she knew Ruby practically worshipped the ground Yang walked, and was probably doing this revenge thing for Pyrrha and her; she knew this Raven was fake. This Raven was her sleep deprivation and hunger. The real Raven didn't give her the time of day.

The real Raven would probably glance at Yang and be disappointed. Yang was disappointed in herself as well. She picked up her sword with a second wind, feeling the age old need to earn everyone's affection. Everyone, especially Ruby's. Ruby was her baby sister; the reason she kept going. If she failed her sister as well as herself, she didn't deserve to breathe air anymore.


	4. Chapter 4

**Warning: Graphic Violence**

* * *

Cinder was getting restless, and she'd be a fool if she wasn't getting scared. It had been a long time since she last heard from her boss, the woman who picked her up when she had nothing, been nothing. Salem was the epitome of power. While Ozpin thoroughly defeated Cinder without so much as a sweat, Salem was still far scarier. They both scared her senseless. Cinder would never admit that aloud.

She cast her eyes towards Emerald and Mercury. They both looked restless, but on different levels. She couldn't stay in the same spot any longer. If she didn't start doing something soon, she would have nothing to show for her extended absence. Especially not now when the White Fang were doing a clean sweep of the academies, and succeeding.

Cinder knew she couldn't waste another moment. She was their leader.

"Emerald, Mercury, we're heading out." She announced, gathering her belongings and weapons. Emerald hurriedly gathered her stuff. Mercury, however, stared at her while leaning against the wall. His eyes quietly assessed her every move, closely watching her for something.

"Where to, leader?" He asked, and Cinder mentally scolded herself. Mercury hadn't taken so much as a day to himself since they'd met. He was smart, but he hated staying still more than anything. His patience must've been close to being spent.

"To find the maidens, of course. We've had a… minor set back." She said in her usual confident voice. A leader never gave too much away. Especially when they took orders from people above. Salem never gave her too many details outside the objective; she hardly gave her full objectives.

Emerald was ready as she looked between Mercury and her. "Are we ready?" She asked. Mercury nodded, and picked up a bag that had been next to the door. Why did he already have a packed bag? She never saw him pack it, and in their two room place, she'd thought she'd notice.

You know he's always living as if he's prepared to start over at any time. Cinder ignored the mishaps in her observation, and nodded as well. She needed to get her head back into her job.

* * *

Ruby looked around the cities that weren't as extravagant as they had once been pre-fall of Beacon. She wasn't so naive as to believe that nothing would change; she just hadn't expected for things to change so… drastically. Ruby followed Jaune a little closer.

Jaune navigated the streets better than she would've figured. Streets like these could only lead to trouble.

They turned the corner to a dirtier alleyway when Ruby saw a man bleeding on the ground. She prepared to help the man when Jaune grabbed her back. The movement was done so smoothly, no one would have noticed them deviating from their original path. Jaune brought her ear close to his mouth, hot air chilling against his cold words.

"You shouldn't trust everyone you see. Look at the blood on his coat. I assure you, it's not his." She would've remained frozen if Jaune didn't gently pull her along. Ruby couldn't comprehend what could've happened to her if Jaune hadn't been there. Yang would've have trusted the ploy. But she was curiously confused. How did Jaune know those things? Had he fallen for something like that? Ruby could only realize that this was another part of Jaune she didn't understand.

Jaune went into a building that looked like a bar. He flashed a smile that immediately made her heart sink. That fake smile was the one she had come to know as Jaune's. She felt so numb; she could only follow with a blank face.

Had anything been real? Was it her fault that he couldn't even be himself in front of Ren and Nora? She felt like even more of a failure. Did he even consider them friends anymore?

Jaune sauntered up to a shady looking man who hid his face into a hoody and hat on the hood. Jaune spoke -he must've -but it was too quiet for Ruby to catch anything either had said. Were they friends? How did Jaune know this person?

"And your friend?" The man's dead voice asked. There wasn't any intonation. Ruby's heart beat increased at the sudden uneasiness. She didn't trust this man. "Of course." Jaune said with a humorless laugh.

The other man simply nodded. "This way."

Ruby followed, her heart pounding, as they entered a room. The room was too small for her Crescent Rose to be of use. Her fear only increased as two guys with guns sat as bodyguards. Jaune grabbed her hand and led her to a couch. The other man sat, and Jaune followed his example.

"You want intel on the White Fang and Haven, right?" The man said, only adding in slight amusement to his voice, which unnerved Ruby even more.

Jaune simply nodded. "How much do you know, and for what amount?"

"So honest. Your business, that is. Fortunately for you, I know a lot about both. The cost is what we discussed earlier. Of course, it's whenever you're available." The man said in a leading voice as Jaune just nodded. "I will do it as soon as you tell me of the White Fang and Haven."

"Very well, then. The White Fang are targeting more academies since Beacon. Nobody knows which ones, not even the leaders of White Fang. Some are saying Atlas, some say Signal. My guess is that it could be both. The White Fang have tremendously increased in attendance. This is bad for everyone. Haven, however, has closed their borders from everyone. They're getting rid of every faunus and any suspicious looking people. The laws of Haven have become stricter with every day that passes. If you want entry there, you're out of luck. Academy leaders can't even buy their way inside. They never could after the fiasco with Beacon."

Ruby could only sit and process the information. If the White Fang are attacking any and every academy, then there was no way to stop them. She had to think harder. Of every academy, Atlas would need to go next. Atlas was similar to Beacon. Cinder couldn't pass it up, but now Haven was a wild card. Uncle Qrow had said she would be there, but had she gotten there in time? If so, how could Jaune, Ren, Nora, and she prevent Haven's fall?

Jaune nodded, apparently done thinking. "Thank you."

"No," the man said, shaking his head, "I should be thanking you for what you'll do for me. You'll be doing this neighborhood, and everywhere near, a huge favor."

"It'll be my pleasure. Let's go. I'll come back when I'm done." Ruby immediately stood.

When they left, the uneasiness subsided. Ruby turned to Jaune. "What are we doing for… um… what was his name?"

Jaune shook his head. "I guess I should at least tell you that. Sorry, Ruby. I've been terrible. There's an aristocrat that that man needs taken down."

She frowned. "What do you mean? Is the aristocrat evil?

Jaune shrugged. "He's an aristocrat that's eating plenty and living happily. To the people here, that's enough."

"Why us?"

Jaune shrugged again. "This is the cost for saving everyone, Ruby. That man is connected with all the information we need. With his approval we could grab info anywhere. All over the kingdoms. All we have to do is kill this aristocrat, and bring back his ring."

Ruby felt sick. "Jaune, no. This… this isn't right."

He simply nodded in agreement. "But we can find Cinder and end this. We can stop the White Fang from killing like they did at Beacon. Do you even know how many childrendied? Were slaughtered by robots and enemies? This is the price to pay for revenge." Jaune leaned away from Ruby with a faraway look in his eyes. "My grandfather was a huntsmen. He used to tell me stories about how he watched his friends die left and right. I asked why he never sought revenge, and he simply said 'when you look for revenge, you dig two graves'."

Jaune turned her to look at him. "You know who those graves are for. I've dug mine. Do you truly want this?" Did she want to watch her friend fall into that nightmare? Alone? She nodded. "We'll stop this. And if this is a way, then… we'll do it." They've killed before, only this time she'll be fully aware of the price of murder.

 **R** **WBY^RWBY^RWBY**

They waited until night before going into the aristocrat's home, like monsters. Ruby watched a man put his two children to sleep, watched him kiss his wife goodnight. All the while, doubt in her resolve stabbed at her. This man no, tis was a husband and father -would be killed for the sake of revenge. She felt disgusting.

Jaune walked quietly through the house. Ruby took the lead, solidifying her resolve. She was his partner, not a spectator. A smooth jazz song played from a tablet, creating a twistedly calm atmosphere.

"Are you the one who kills me?" A resigned voice whispered and Ruby stilled. No! I was quiet! "I take it Kasper sent you." He didn't turn around to confront her. "If you're going to kill me… at least do it quietly. My family doesn't need to hear this."

Ruby couldn't now. This man must've known all day that he'd be killed. She felt sick all over again. Jaune walked behind the man, closed the man's eyes, and snapped his neck. The crack resonated throughout the mansion along to the song's climax.

Ruby ran to the bathroom and emptied the contents of her stomach.

* * *

Weiss arrived at Ruby and Yang's house. She knew Ruby had left, but maybe their father could tell her something. She killed a lot of grimm during her trip. How could this many grimm surface everywhere so suddenly?

Before she could knock on the door, a dog tackled her to the ground. She laughed. Before, it would've bothered her, but now it was relief to have some form of normality. Zwei had tackled each member of team RWBY collectively. The adorable dog must've been at Yang's side until now.

"Zwei? Zwei!" A masculine voice called, and Zwei took off around side of the house. "What's the matter, buddy?" The blonde man appeared from around the house looking every bit like Yang, minus the eyes. He simply blinked at her, and she blushed realizing that she had just stared.

"My name is Weiss-"

"Weiss? Ruby and Yang's friend from Beacon?" He asked and smiled when she nodded.

"Yes, I was only recently able to leave, and I wanted to check on Yang. I heard that Ruby left, but I've no idea where she might be. Could you, maybe, help me?" His smile became a bitter smile.

"I feel awful. You came all this way for nothing. Perhaps we should go inside. I'll explain in there."

Weiss frowned as she walked inside, only to hear that Ruby and Yang were both missing for almost a week now. Qrow was supposed to be finding them, but Weiss knew the silence was deafening. It drove in the fear that one or both of them might be dead already.

"R-Ruby was going to Haven? But I think there aren't any boats going to or from there anymore. Something must be up, but I'm not sure. They might meet up near the coast. I should hurry." They both had had a huge headstart.

Taiyang stood with her. "I should go with you-"

"Oh no, I'll be fine."

He sighed. "You know, us parents might feel overbearing, but you as a child are the only reason we parents can feel calm. I know your father, Weiss. You should at least let him know you're alive every so often."

Guilt pricked at her. The fear she must've felt must be tripled for Taiyang. She had done the same thing Ruby and Yang had done. She couldn't even imagine the trouble Winter must be in. She nodded, she owed her father at least this. "I'll be sure to do so soon."

He smiled. "You should head to Beacon Academy. That's where Qrow would usually turn up. If the girls get stuck, they might go there as well."

"Thank you so much." Weiss wasted no time going to Beacon. She needed to hurry, and maybe she'd see Yang and Ruby safe together.

* * *

Yang woke from her trance-like sleep. She remembered finding an abandoned town with canned food: peaches, sweet corn, ravioli. She forced herself to only eat one can from the handful she'd found. She rationed the water into a full week. If she was careful, she'd be fine.

The bed had bugs and Yang felt her pride die away. Her clothes had been worn for days straight, and her hair was matted. She must've looked rabid. If she closed her eyes, she could easily pretend this was huntress training.

"Yeah; they train one-arm losers to become huntsmen. Face it. You look as pathetic as you are." Of course her imagination of Raven's voice added it's two cents. Yang was still too tired to care what it said.

She heard someone's voice, and her entire body and senses went on alert. "Look around for supplies." A female voice commanded.

"Wh-what if they refuse to give up their stuff? Or they're huntsmen?"

"Tell them we're the White Fang, and then you kill them." The woman finished, obviously annoyed.

Yang mentally cursed her luck, which has been as frequent as her peace of mind. She would either run, and keep trying to find somewhere to sleep, or kill them. Around her baby sister, she resisted the urge to go all-out and protect what was hers, but it was a kill or be killed world now. She wished she had at least brought Zwei or left to get a prosthetic arm.

"Classic Yang, regretting things when it's too late to change anything."

"Shut up." Yang hissed, and took several calming breaths as she scouted out the three White Fang members. She would need one of them for questioning. How do I even do that? A twisted idea formed, and she took action.

Yang waited until they were separated. She followed the man that hadn't said anything, and waited for him to enter an abandoned corner store. Stalking an unaware target was much simpler than fighting grimm. The grimm always knew where you were. She entered the building quietly, missing the glass on the floor. The man went through each aisle, and Yang crept behind him only to bury her sword into the back of his neck.

The man immediately crumbled to the ground choking. Warm blood coated her hands, and she felt disgusted. No matter how many times she did this, a piece of her died as well. She could justify herself by saying they'd kill others who might've be defenseless, but she'd killed someone all the same.

Yang hurried along to locate the next target who she found in a clothing store. Yang did a mental happy dance. She hadn't even seen the store, and it didn't even look ravaged like the rest of the town. She could nab something once this was over, if she lived.

The man admired a t-shirt, reading the caption "think twice before crossing the road". Yang dropped down behind him, which startled him into dropping his shirt. She cut the back of his ankle, watching him fall to the ground. He released a deafening scream. She stabbed the man's hands, making him unable to grab a weapon.

"Michael!" The woman yelled frantically as Michael whimpered. Yang grabbed his gun and aimed at the entrance where the woman had called from. The woman turned the corner only to catch a bullet through her head. Her head snapped back, and she fell to the ground loudly.

Yang hadn't realized that her heart was pounding hard in her chest, so hard if felt like it would stop altogether. She glanced down at her hands, noticing how steady it was. Yang heard the man cough hard, and she spun around picking up her sword.

"Why were you here?"

"I'm-I'm n-n-not-" He stuttered through chattering teeth. He was most likely going into shock.

"I can either finish you off quickly, or make this much worse. Why were you here?"

He didn't think, he just answered. "S-sup-plies."

"Why are you in the White Fang?" Maybe if she knew, she'd be able to know something about that guy who cut her arm off.

"F-forced." His eyelids shut as he violently coughed. His body seized while Yang just stared horrified. His body convulsed and Yang just ran back to her bug infested apartment and canned food. The room that started to make some sense.

These people… they were forced into the White Fang? She'd killed them because they she had no other choice. Either way, they would've died, but her stomach threatened to lurch. She tightened her fist, prepared to hit something if it deviated the thought of throwing up hard earned food.

Usually, she only knocked people unconscious, refusing to end a life if she didn't have to, but she'd mercilessly killed these people. Even worse was her sporadic heart beat and steady hand. Her equilibrium was like before, her accuracy had increased, and those biology and anatomy lessons seemed pay off in a bittersweet way.

"Moron. A huntress is someone willing to risk their own life to protect others. That includes killing or being killed. If you aren't prepared to do that, then you should just go back to Taiyang and be pitied."

The fake Raven was right. She'd killed before; granted that had been for Beacon, for the citizens of Vale. This had been different. This was for survival, and it felt wrong. Her, a pathetic one-arm girl who ran away from home on an impulse, meant more than those three?

She couldn't even cry; it felt like an insult to cry when she'd taken their lives instead of crying. They were forced to be warriors, but they were warriors all the same. Something inside of Yang felt reformed. Inside, she felt like this would be the last time she cried over someone she killed.

* * *

Neptune and Sun had taken down a White Fang facility with the help of four other faunus. The rule was to capture and not kill. After questioning, which was more like having a normal conversation, they'd both found out that most recruitments post-fall of Beacon had been forced to join. Their family was being used as leverage. Every person they'd captured could lose their family.

Sun walked to an office room, and Neptune followed knowing that they desperately needed a plan and fast. He sat down and sighed heavily. "What should we do?"

"Get their families back."

"But how? The White Fang aren't a group of pushovers, and if all the people there are like the ones here, they would never voluntarily join us. We need something more than what the White Fang can offer. Keeping their families alive is a hell of a leverage."

It was more than what they could offer. Joining them could do more bad than good. "We took down a facility and saved some people, right? Maybe if we keep doing that, we can keep getting people back. White Fang needs to be destroyed either way, and attacking their numbers like this makes them lose their leverage."

Sun nodded. "We'll tell the other what's going to be happening, and what needs to be done, but we have nowhere to safely put these people."

Neptune sighed at the speed bump in the road to the faunus liberation. He patted Sun's shoulder. "We'll think of something."

They heard a loud clatter along with shouts. They both jumped up to see what was happening. Neptune was frozen when he saw who had made the ruckus; it was Blake. She looked almost feral with large bags under her eyes. He felt sorry for her. How long had she been like this?

"Blake…" Sun whispered longingly, then his eyes hardened. "Everyone, please calm down. She's with us. Please," Sun gestured to Blake, "follow me."

She seemed to snap out of whatever trance she'd been in. When they got into the room, everything seemed to sour even more.

"Why are you here?" Sun asked suspiciously. Neptune desperately wanted to tell Sun to change his tone, in case he scared Blake off, but anything he said would make things worse.

"What does that mean?" She snapped, picking up on the tone and not appreciating it.

"It means exactly what it sounded like. What were you doing here?" He demanded, sitting behind the desk completely straight faced. Blake scoffed. "Running from the White Fang. Or can I not be wherever I want to? And why are you here? This is a White Fang facility."

"I know that quite well, Belladonna. I just find it odd that you're running from the White Fang by going -knowingly, it seems -to a White Fang facility."

She scoffed in disbelief. "I don't need this. I don't need to be interrogated; especially not from you. If you must know, I've been fighting the White Fang."

Sun leaned back in his chair, and began speaking clinically. "I did need to know that. Neptune and I are leaders of this group here. We're taking down the White Fang and liberating everyone from their captivity. Our group is called Reticio."

Neptune couldn't lie to himself, he was also curious of Blake, but as the conversation progressed he felt reassured. She would definitely join them. This is exactly what she wanted all along. She understood that the White Fang needed to be stopped after all the monstrosities they've committed.

Instead of feeling reassured, her face contorted in disdain. "What? So this is just the White Fang with a different name and less power? Don't be an idiot. The White Fang are too strong, and you could never-"

"That's more than enough, Belladonna. These people need someone to protect them. They need a pillar to believe in-" Sun said angrily.

"And you think that you're it? I can't believe this! I can't seem to get away from power hungry men-"

Neptune had had more than enough as well. "Leave. We're just doing what you were too much of a coward to do. We're doing what the White Fang failed to do. If you're not going to join or help, you will leave."

Blake looked frustrated. "You don't understand. The White Fang is too strong!"

"Then we'll die protecting these people. Bye, Blake. I can't even say it was pleasant to see you." Sun said without any emotion in his voice.

Before she could open her mouth, Neptune cut her off, feeling a resolve he didn't know he needed against his girlfriend's best friend. "Go." He was so sure Blake would join them, but this… this was a side of her he didn't like at all.

She shook her head, and turned towards the window, jumping without one backward glance. It reminded Neptune of how she'd vanished last time, running without so much as a thought to the people who cared for her.

Neptune turned to Sun who had his head in his hands. There was nothing Neptune could say to make Sun feel better, to make the pain of Blake's words disappear. She'd opened a can of something that should've stay untouched. "We should talk about our people." Sun murmured. Neptune sighed. Pretending this didn't hurt or matter wouldn't make it disappear. He didn't need to deal with all of this now, but he did need to face it. They were leaders now; not normal teenagers. People's lives rode on their decisions, so all decisions would be thought out and paid attention to. "Yes, we should, but you need to breathe. Just breathe." Disappointment was a bitter pill to swallow.


	5. Chapter 5

To say that Mercury didn't trust Cinder at all would be false. He trusted her enough to do what was ordered of them. Except lately, Cinder seemed to talk about Ruby in every sentence. They could be talking about how cold it's been lately, and she'd somehow put Ruby into the conversation. It was getting harder to stand being around her. She was still powerful and someone to fear, but her slip in sanity was a big enough warning sign for him to jump ship. It wouldn't be the first time he'd gotten rid of someone or left them.

Emerald was closely watching his every movement. It seems she never forgot that Mercury wasn't a patient person. She walked ahead of him, but not so far that her peripheral vision didn't cover him.

Mercury wondered if getting defeated after their huge success was that much of a traumatizing event. Maybe it wasn't so much as 'traumatizing'; maybe Cinder was just bitter at being defeated by Ozpin, and then an amatuer. He would laugh at her childishness, but he liked living and he was annoyed at losing to Yang, only a bit though. She had been a capable fighter. He wasn't so impressed with the others. Yang was the type he could've fought against for fun, but Adam made sure she'd lose something crucial.

Mercury scratched his head looking at another gated up town. He could see Emerald shaking her head while looking away. He could only imagine what was going on in the village. They were probably slaughtering any and all faunus. Now that Mercury truly thought about it, Adam must not care very much for faunus. Once upon a time, Adam had fought adamantly to defend faunus; now, the faunus are nothing more than pawns to suffer their "leader's" consequences. Meanwhile, Adam was probably searching for his ex-girlfriend.

"Mercury, what's on your mind?" Cinder asked out of the blue. She had been equally out of it. He just shrugged and tightened his hands around his bag.

"Nothing out of the norm. We got lucky with the Fall Maiden. Where could the other three be?"

Cinder looked at him sideways. "That's nothing for you to be so dazed about. We'll find those maidens." The unspoken _"and then I won't get killed by my handler"_ hung heavily between them. "Besides," she continued, "we would've gotten them sooner if a certain black haired nuisance hadn't gotten in our way."

And there was the input of Ruby into the conversation. Roman had always been better at grabbing Cinder's attention. After everything that happened, Neo and Roman had remained missing. There was no way they were dead. They were probably doing something better.

Mercury kicked his feet out, ignoring Cinder's stare. If he had gone to Beacon before everything went to hell in a handbasket, would he have been doing something to fix damage? He wondered if maybe he would know what he wanted to do after becoming a huntsmen or whatever. He was good with machinery, mainly prosthetics. Maybe he could be a doctor or something.

Emerald had probably never thought of something as trivial as what she wanted to be. She was the type of person who left you guessing. Her dream was probably something like following Cinder around forever. Cinder probably didn't entertain the thought because her puppet master wouldn't let her.

But it didn't matter what dream they all had, they had to forfeit those when they started this whole thing. 

* * *

Blake was still pissed about the nonsense that happened with Sun and Neptune. Why couldn't they see that she was trying to look out for them? Against Adam, they would have only met their death. She knew Adam. She knew him just as well as she knew the sky was blue. And she knew he hadn't given up on searching for her, and if he knew that she was dating Sun, then everything would go from bad to worse. She couldn't watch her maybe-boyfriend get hurt over her. Her mind flitted from Sun's cold demeanor to Yang losing her arm.

She couldn't do nothing and watch her maybe-boyfriend die, but after their… conversation, Sun probably wanted nothing to do with her. She didn't really know why she behaved like she did. Being in one of the White Fang facilities always did something to her after she left them. She couldn't be comfortable. She actually thought that Sun had joined the White Fang, but no. He joined something that was exactly like the White Fang. It pissed her off. He _knew_ what the White Fang meant to her, what they had done. Why would he build an organization that was essentially the same thing?

Blake kept jumping off of the higher trees' branches instead of walking on the ground. It helped that the majority of the White Fang in the area had been put into submission. The grimm, however, were a different story. They had only increased in numbers.

It made perfect sense, the increase in grimm that is. Grimm were attracted to any large scale panic. Remnant had begun to do nothing less than panic. That's what made the attack on Beacon so spectacular. The enemy had successfully put everyone there in a frenzy, and they panicked.

 _"Too bad grimm can't attack traitors. You'd be overwhelmed in a matter of seconds. Usually, I'd break out in hives for this, but I'm proud of you. You made the only sane man who's ever been able to tolerate you so mad he'd probably mail you straight to Adam. It must be a skill of yours."_ The fake Yang said with a smirk.

Blake didn't want to deal with this right now... or ever. She didn't need to see a Yang she knew wasn't there. Her eyes burned, but she would never cry over words. Never again would she be so weak to fall apart like that.

Blake dropped down, inviting the Death Stalker grimm to come to her. She remembered fighting plenty of Death Stalkers, but her first true memory of it was when she first fought with her friends. Ruby almost getting stabbed by its stinger and Weiss saving Ruby, Yang and her running after them. Jaune, Nora, Ren, and… Pyrrha all fighting the Nevermore. Then they all switched enemies. Her stomach churned in sorrow.

She wanted those days back! It was all the grimm's fault! It was all Cinder's fault! It was all _Adam's_ fault! She had spent her entire life fighting for somewhere to belong, and they had all taken it from her. She was through running in fear.

Blake charged at the Death Stalker, and used her semblance to teleport behind its pincer. The grimm destroyed her shadow as Blake unleashed all her fury into cutting the grimm's pincer off. It released a shrill scream, and she smiled. She needed this monster to feel a small amount of the pain she felt. She moved to the other pincer and saw at the last second that the stinger was darting towards her.

Blake teleported, dodging the stinger and threw her sword. She pulled the trigger and teleported again behind the stinger. She stabbed it furiously, until the grimm screamed so hard she could only hear white noise. The grimm finally slumped down in death.

After staring at the grimm for a while, Blake realized she'd been cut on her leg. The cut was small, probably by a pincer and not the stinger. Regardless, she was breathing way too hard for battling something so beneath her. This Death Stalker was amatuer level. She'd fought grimm and humans way stronger than this.

"Wow, that was some fight there, Blake." A haughty but friendly voice said, sailing through the air, piercing through her insanity and white noise. Blake couldn't breathe suddenly in fear that this was nothing more than another hallucination, but she took the chance. She turned her head slowly and saw the grayish-white hair tied in a ponytail, the icy blue eyes, the eyebrow lifted in amusement, and the ridiculous "battle skirt". Blake laughed once, and kept laughing until tears streamed down her face.

She felt skinny arms wrap around her, pulling her in. Blake quit fighting the sanctuary that found her. It was Weiss. It was really Weiss. She clung to Weiss and prayed with her entire being to whomever would listen that this wasn't a cruel hallucination as well.

 **RWBY^RWBY^RWBY**

Blake awoke to the sound of crackling fire. Her heart seized as she opened her eyes to complete darkness. _Was earlier just a dream?_ She looked around seeing Weiss standing before the fire with closed eyes. She looked like she was concentrating deeply. Blake didn't move, waiting for Weiss to do something, but it didn't happen. Her stomach grumbled and Weiss opened her eyes.

"Sorry, Blake. I didn't notice you were awake. You looked exhausted so I let you sleep." She went to her fanny pack and retrieved some food, handing it to Blake. "Blake…" Blake knew Weiss wanted to ask something, but Weiss only shook her head, deeming her question irrelevant.

"So… I was looking for Ruby and Yang." Weiss began, and told Blake something that made her stomach churn again in self-hatred. As Weiss finished her story, Blake knew she had to do anything to save Yang. Ruby had companions, but Yang was alone and weakened. She couldn't keep running forever.

* * *

Sun had asked his people if they would help him scout out a large safe house for the incoming people they would liberate by taking down the White Fang. Surprisingly, everyone volunteered to help. They all knew that Sun and Neptune were doing this for them, that they were willing to risk any and everything to ensure these people's safety. Neptune touched Sun's shoulder. "I'll head out with them to check things out. We'll be sure to come back by sunset."

"You'd better. Get going. The sooner you leave, the more ground you cover." Sun said in a teasing tone. Secretly, he was scared that something bad would happen to the scouts and Neptune. Anything could happen, but he had to trust that nothing bad would happen. Neptune seemed to know exactly what he was thinking because the blue haired idiot smirked and waved, leaving with his back-up.

He could already feel the pressure build up. The remaining people were looking at him, willing to do anything for him, to help him. He felt the power of leadership on a whole new scale. This was more than leading a team, this was more than leading a school of fighters. This was leading civilians who shouldn't have to fight just for the shelter.

There was a huge commotion at the door, and Sun's mind flitted to Blake. _No need to go back there._ Her sheer lack of understanding was painful enough. He really didn't think he was ready for Round 2.

Instead of his ex-maybe-girlfriend, it was James Ironwood. A man who should probably bury his head under sand until this whole business in Vale was resolved. People had taken a liking to blaming him for all the robotic soldiers. Some believed he was on the White Fang's side. Except the man had more sense than traveling alone because Glynda Goodwitch followed behind him.

"Hello, Mr. Ironwood, Ms. Goodwitch." He said, trying to be polite, but instead he felt blindsided. How were people finding him so easily? He needed to quickly get all of these people out of this abandoned place. He hoped Neptune and co.'s scouting was successful.

"Mr. Wukong, we heard from rumors that you're the leader here?" Ironwood said, and Glynda looked around. "You took this place alone?"

He felt suspicious of these two. "Neptune and I did with the help of some people. Why are you here?"

James sighed. "We need to get Beacon up and running. We need to save the academy. If it doesn't get back up soon, then the communication between kingdoms will be destroyed. People already view Beacon as a failure, but we need to know if someone's in danger, so we can help them."

"Nice proposition, but here in Reticio, we don't make our followers fight. These people are civilians. Some don't even have auras. You can't, seriously, be asking me to order these people to fight."

Glynda crossed her arms. "The moment you built Reticio, you became involved. The White Fang aren't going to wait for you to make up your mind. You attacked them in ways we can't."

His recruitment must've been what she meant. They needed numbers, but Sun would never do it in exchange for their sanity and innocence. Plus, these people had families. He couldn't outright ask or even demand they fight for a destroyed building.

"I can sponsor you. You will have a building big enough to shelter all of the people here and more, if you choose." James said sounding like it was that simple. That his decision concerning the will of these people was all that was necessary.

"I'm not you, _James_. I don't make decisions for people, costing them their lives. There's nothing you could offer that will force me to make these people fight for you. You and Ms. Goodwitch have nothing to offer these people or their families. You think this is easy? These people aren't child huntsmen. They're civilians. Don't forget that." Sun knew that he probably should've been more polite, but the man was rubbing him the wrong way.

James looked offended like he honestly couldn't believe that Sun said that. Sun couldn't believe he said it either, but that was the truth. James had built an army of robots without authorization of Ozpin, and the students had to suffer. Sun had found out through rumors from some of the more uncouth professors. James had the audacity to sweet talk to Sun when this man led to students dying and being injured. Of course the whole fiasco wasn't on James' shoulders, but he was still responsible.

Glynda shook her head. "Ignore James. He seems to forget that he's not talking to a subordinate, but a leader." She looked at Sun with a hint of pride. It made Sun's cheeks warm. To have any praise from someone as amazing as Ms. Goodwitch was… he couldn't even think of a word to describe his happiness. "I'm happy you declined his offer. You're right; these people aren't fighters, but don't you think that they should decide if they want to fight for their freedom?"

Sun looked down. "I already know they'll jump to the opportunity. They trust me, and I don't want to make a call that kills them. Some of them _just_ got reconnected with their families. I can't just ask them to risk their lives, but I know they would. They have more resolve than I do, but they still trust me."

Glynda put a hand on Sun's shoulder. "Don't make this decision today. Give it time. There's no rush, the academy will still be here." But he didn't know if the place that James said he could offer would be there. Sun would wait. He needed Neptune's say on this.

"Thank you. I'm with Neptune when it comes to decision making. When I get his reply, I'll come to you."

James nodded. "Take your time, and… I'm sorry. What I said was inappropriate. The place will still be there, no matter your decision. Let me write down the address." Sun's chest tightened as a wave of relief hit him. Even if Neptune couldn't find somewhere for their people, the families would still have somewhere to rest their heads. It was a start, but he was so incredibly grateful.

* * *

Yang stared at a mirror after her shower. She was surprised that the shower even worked properly. Her luck must've decided to give her a break. She was wearing a pair of black shorts that gave her mobility and a black shirt with a red rose on the corner. It might have belonged to a store, but it reminded her of Ruby. She needed to find her sister sooner. If the White Fang were killing indiscriminately, then Ruby was in danger. There was no way her sister could kill someone. She could barely stomach having killed someone.

In the course of four days, two groups came by. She didn't have to kill anyone after the first group came. The second silently took some food, looking around, jumping at every sound. They must've ran into someone who fought back. Their awareness was heightened; Yang knew she couldn't sneak and kill everyone like the other group. So she let them go ahead.

 _"'Let' is a relative term because I know you just hid and they went away."_ The fake Blake said, which was typical. Her mind was determined to make her hate Blake, but she didn't. Now that she had a lot of time to think. And have hallucinations. She realized that she was simply pissed that Blake didn't trust her enough to know who Adam was, or to even visit. But hate? No, she could never hate her friend, if Blake even thought of her as one.

Yang kept thinking about how she killed those people with a steady hand. She realized that she needed to keep that steady hand if she wanted to live. The White Fang wasn't her only enemy. Her analysis from the fight was that she couldn't charge into a fight anymore. It had little to do with having only one arm, it had everything to do with how stupid the thought was. Charging into a battle all by herself was a ticket to see Death.

She had done her best lying in wait and attacking each quietly and swiftly. She couldn't afford to maintain her carefree persona anymore. She wasn't fighting students, and the world wasn't in a state of "calm before the storm". This was real, and her mistakes would cost her more than a limb.

First, she would have to leave this rundown sanctuary. Staying here would do nothing to make her a better fighter. It had given her a place to exercise and practice without being attacked by a random grimm. She packed her stuff and went to the clothes store, grabbing four more outfits.

Leaving her haven felt bad. She thought she should feel guilty for killing those people, but instead she felt like she had finally realized that this was a dog eat dog world. If she hadn't killed them, they would've killed her. She needed to keep it together.

* * *

Ruby awoke to a loud crack that made her heart pump out of her chest. She looked around, seeing the sun barely high enough to peek through the horizon. Jaune was up along with Ren and Nora. The atmosphere felt heavy.

After Jaune recounted their "adventure" to Ren and Nora, Ren narrowed his eyes and Nora stopped talking to Jaune. It was like they were blatantly ignoring Jaune who didn't seem bothered. He simply sat and sharpened his sword.

She wanted to say something, but she didn't know what she could possibly say to lighten the mood. _Yeah, we killed a guy, but we know where the White Fang might be next?_ Even that news didn't affect Ren and Nora. Ruby felt like this was her fault. The stagnation between friends was painful, and it only reminded her that her sister and friends didn't talk anymore.

She couldn't leave things this way. The true beginning of their adventure had presented itself, and so what it was presented on a bloody platter? Their goal was becoming clearer.

"What are we doing?" Ruby began. She hated confrontations with a passion. Yang usually handled them for her. Confrontations didn't go well for Ruby. It was why she could leave her old school, Signal, and easily go to Beacon. Nobody missed her because nobody liked her. She was that kid that was personally taught a dangerous weapon because the teacher was her uncle. People hated someone overreaching, and that's all Ruby could do.

Nora cocked her head. "What do you mean?" She asked in an innocent voice, and then annoyance bled into Ruby. How could Nora pretend like their lives weren't on the line? Things were terrible! How could Nora pretend that ignoring Jaune would solve anything? If Pyrrha were here…

Ruby just let it all out. "This! We're just sitting here, doing absolutely nothing! Ever since Jaune and I got back, you've acted like catching Cinder and stopping the White Fang was never important. How could you just ignore Jaune when we need to be together more than anything? What is your problem? Just say it; shout it!"

Nora looked at Ruby like she was a child. "You wouldn't understand."

"Why? Why wouldn't I understand? Because I'm younger?"

Ren sighed. "Nora's being stupid. She's mad because Jaune killed a guy and you were there."

Ruby cocked her head. "You think I wouldn't understand someone dying? Why not? We've done it before. This is to stop other people from dying over nonsense."

"Is that really why you're doing this? To stop them from hurting others, or for revenge?" Ren asked and Jaune finally entered the conversation with a sigh.

"What does it matter? You get the bad guy, and everyone is happy." Jaune said, gently setting his sword down. Nora narrowed her eyes. "I don't know what happened to you, Jaune. You used to be respectable. How could you kill someone for information, and not care? That man had a family!"

"It was his life for the lives of others. It was his life for my revenge." He said simply and frowned. "What is this really about? Because he had a family? Because I killed someone for revenge? Or is it because Ruby was involved?"

Ren frowned as well. "All three."

"Then why can't my reasoning be more than one? Why is something this stupid getting in the way? Right now, people are being killed, and we can be stopping it." Jaune said with his eyebrows furrowing in irritation.

Nora snorted, and sneered at Jaune. "I'm surprised you even care that people died. What would Pyr-"

"Shut the hell up." Jaune said in a calm, monotone voice. His eyes didn't burn with hidden anger, his posture didn't betray what they all knew. Jaune was furious. He wasn't about to let anyone speak her name. His small sentence held a threat and promise.

Ren bristled, prepared to defend Nora if Jaune so much as moved, but Ruby was sick of this. How could they fall apart like this? They had a common goal. _Why?_ Why couldn't they just get over themselves and achieve this goal? Why did they need to argue about nothing? Because that's what this argument was. Ren and Nora seemed to be mad about any and everything Jaune did, and Jaune seemed to not care at all.

Jaune grabbed his sword and sheathed it. He turned towards his teammates, and Ruby regretted ever thinking confrontation was the answer. She could see that Jaune would say something cutting, something irreparable. Except his rigid demeanor relaxed, and he rolled his eyes.

"Are you not satisfied with me?" He asked and the weight behind those words made the air so dense with tension, Ruby almost suffocated. Ren took the mantle, and answered truthfully. "We're unsatisfied with someone who can't trust us, and we can't trust them. You lied to us. Repeatedly."

"Then I'll give leadership to Ruby. You trust her." Ruby saw everyone look at her in confirmation. The pressure increased, but Jaune presented a solution that could save their team. She needed her friends to remain friends, but Ren's honesty probably destroyed any way of that happening. The one time Ren talked more than one word, and it'd been something mean.

They trusted her, though. Why? She hadn't paid attention to what the team could do fully, that was Jaune. She knew her friends, but their fighting capabilities was Jaune's forte. He was an excellent leader, but so was she. She had forgotten that Ruby Rose was a leader too. She had forgotten that she wasn't doing this for others, she was doing this for Yang and Pyrrha.

She nodded. "I'll be the leader." _Temporarily._ Because if they couldn't accept Jaune's secrets, they probably couldn't accept hers.


	6. Chapter 6

**Warning: Graphic Violence**

 **This is the latest chapter on AO3; so the next update should be on Sunday.**

 **If there are any grammatical errors, please tell.**

* * *

Jaune practiced his exercises from the beginning to the end. Ren and Nora didn't trust him. For some reason, it really hurt to hear that. To hear that his best friends, who he depended on for everything, didn't trust him. He had never put their lives in danger. He didn't even put Ruby's life in danger. Why didn't they trust him? They had their own secrets they kept from him. What did it matter that he wasn't a weakling anymore? What did it matter that he didn't go crying for help and miracles? He had relinquished _his_ team to Ruby because they all had secrets. And how could Nora speak Pyrrha's name with that hateful face? Did Nora think he wasn't affected by Pyrrha's death? He was the most affected one out of their team!

Arms curled around his neck, and Jaune breathed. He felt all the tension in his muscles immediately disappear. Pyrrha could always do that for him. He used to be able to do that for her before Ozpin. Then she stopped trusting him with the things that mattered. He felt himself become distant with his own body. Was he doing the same thing to Ren and Nora? Not trusting them with the things that mattered? No, he told them everything they told him. Things that were strictly mission related. They never shared anything about themselves, so why should he ever reveal himself?

 _"Reveal yourself? They aren't potential enemies, Jaune. They're your comrades. Your friends. They're the people that have your back in a life or death situation. How could you think you don't need to share everything with them?"_ Pyrrha asked with that I-already-know-the-answer tone.

"How could you think I need to? They don't tell me _anything._ I still don't even know their childhood, if they live alone or not. I don't know their favorite foods, and I don't know when they feel bad. I can barely tell. So how can they come to me asking for trust? They don't trust anyone but each other, of course they're my comrades. But I will never be buddy buddy with someone who could be so blatantly hypocritical when we don't have time for it." He realized he spoke quietly out loud to himself. He was seriously losing it.

It wasn't his fault this time. It was only thanks to the illusion of Pyrrha that he didn't all-out fight Ren and Nora. They knew the words that would stab him in the heart, and they said them. They knew he was still reeling from losing Pyrrha, and they still said it. They knew and breathed the words "trust" in the same sentence.

Jaune stood up and practiced his sword technique. His anger was ideal in testing his precision. He needed to be able to fight Cinder when the time came, even if he was under pressure. He stabbed at the "throat" of the branch and heard a whistle.

Jaune didn't jump. The Jaune before would've jumped, but he waited. He knew from the lack of hostility that it was only Ruby. She walked softly towards him, almost like she wasn't sure he would attack her or not. He turned to her and saw her give him a small smile. "Hey, Jaune. Um…" She trailed off and then looked at her feet.

"Is there something you need, Ruby?" He asked, amused. Her bashfulness was adorable. She behaved like it was the first time they were actually talking. And maybe it was the first time they had talked without the smoke and mirrors. He gave her his attention and she blushed.

"This "leadership" thing is really… stressful." She finished, and sighed. "Jaune, this is your team."

"They don't trust me. Hardly my team when no one wants to follow your decisions." He said, in a dismissive tone. He couldn't let Ruby of all people know how deeply their rejection hurt him. Ruby was a kind-hearted person. She loved people with her entire heart, so she was easily hurt. He knew she would do everything in her power to make them all make up, but it was futile. Their differences stemmed from something else. Their dislike of him started before Ruby joined them.

"That's crap and you know it! You're their leader! You should-"

"Force them to obey my will? Listen to yourself, Ruby. We didn't choose our leader, but we accepted it. They don't accept me anymore. And that's all that matters. You are the leader now."

"Temporarily until you all get your crap together." She shook her head. "I don't know how to move this team. I don't know everyone's strengths and weaknesses. You do because you're their leader. Hell, you know my strengths and weaknesses, and we weren't even a team. I feel like I'll fail and mess things up even more."

Jaune sighed, and put his arm around Ruby's shoulders. "I remember you telling me that I couldn't debate whether I would be good enough, that I just had to be. Ruby, you're a capable leader. You're an excellent huntress-in-waiting." She laughed at that. He counted it as a win in his book.

"You don't have to be exceptional. This is your first time leading this team." _No matter how shattered their compatibility was._ "If you mess up, that's okay because we know you'll do even better next time. Don't stress too much about this." He stopped sprouting feel-good nonsense at her and sighed.

"This is my fault for dumping this on you. Don't say it's not. I volunteered you, and you accepted without much thought. I'm sorry." He said feeling like a jerk and failure. His own team would rather have an outsider be the leader, rather than him. His remaining hope for a friendship with Ren and Nora was quickly crumbling. He was a fool to trust them anyway.

"You know… even though I didn't receive this position the right way, I think that I needed this. I'm not saying that you deserved what they said to you." She rushed to say, thinking she maybe offended him, but he only shook his head. "Don't be silly."

"No… I've… you saw how I've been acting lately. It wasn't me. I just gave up, and hearing Ren and Nora talk about reasons made me remember the reason I'm doing this. You knew exactly what you were doing, but I needed to be reminded. And I'm nervous, but I'm ready to actually start this journey. The right way."

Jaune smiled. If anyone understood the raw need to make someone suffer, it was Ruby. After what happened to her sister and Pyrrha, there was no way she couldn't. "Want to have a trial test? We can go around killing grimm to start off. That way you can get a hang of the team."

She looked conflicted, and then a mask seemed to fall over her face. She nodded once and took out her Crescent Rose. "Let's go." 

**RWBY^RWBY^RWBY**

Jaune watched as Ruby expertly detected a large group of grimm. He always knew that Ruby was an incredible fighter, much better than he ever was, and that she was an excellent leader. The first day he met her, he knew they would be friends, no matter how bumpy things felt. Jaune looked up to Ruby, but Pyrrha was the one who broke him out of his admiration. She told him that Ruby and she wouldn't always be there to help him be what he needed to be. Pyrrha couldn't have been more right.

Ruby pulled out her Crescent Rose, and stood head on from the group. There were so many different type of grimm, Jaune had trouble counting them all. Even with his skills, his weapon wasn't enough for even a third. Nora could've handled half alone. Ren could probably do the same. They were right in evicting him from the leader role. He didn't have the personality or the skill level. Pyrrha should've been leader. She was made for it.

 _"Concentrate, Jaune. You worked so hard to be leader. Prove to them that you aren't a liability. You can contribute to this team."_ Pyrrha said in that melodic voice that always put him at ease.

Ruby shouted for Ren and Nora to attack. Nora used her launcher to propel herself forward, and then she flipped hitting a grimm dead on. The grimm crumbled and she swung her Magnhild around hitting three other grimm. Ren jumped into the horde and used his semblance to pour his aura into two different grimm, making them both explode. He did a backflip kicking a grimm into another.

Ruby turned to him, and she smirked. "Let's go!" She turned her Crescent Rose into a scythe, and Jaune curved himself around it. Ruby swung and Jaune used the momentum to stab a boarbatusk in the head. The grimm fell, and Jaune ducked as Ruby used her Crescent Rose to propel herself into the fight. She spun taking off three grimm's heads.

Jaune caught her when she fell, and threw his shield like Pyrrha had taught him. He charged and caught the shield. He immediately stabbed the grimm and spun cutting a Creep's head off. Ruby shot two bullets past Jaune hitting the grimm behind him. He nodded once to her and rolled past her using his shield to block the Death Stalker's stinger. Ruby jumped off of his shield and cut the stinger off. Jaune stabbed its eye as Ruby embedded her Crescent Rose in its head.

The fight seemed to carry on for what seemed like barely minutes. They fought well as a team until there weren't any more grimm left.

Ruby huffed with her cheeks bright red from the exertion of the fight. "We did a great job, team!" And they did do a great job. Jaune was impressed with Ruby's adaptability. She was the perfect choice for a leader. He was almost surprised when there weren't any negative thoughts to follow up the positivity.

Nora babbled to Ruby, pointedly ignoring Jaune, and he was okay with that. As long as Ren and Nora could put aside their differences to fight the enemies, then he was fine with them not trusting him, or wanting much of anything to do with him. Ruby grabbed Jaune's arm and dragged him with them as they began to walk towards some little town.

"Thanks. For giving me this chance to redeem myself." She said and he cocked his head. What was she on about? "I won't let you down again. Let's find somewhere safe to be for tonight that's not in the middle of a forest, huh?"

Jaune had no idea what any of that was about, but his eyes trained on Ruby. He started to feel like he needed to keep a close eye on Ruby. He couldn't let her get hurt. He wouldn't know what to do with himself if he'd gotten someone else hurt.

* * *

Weiss looked at her friend, and decided that Blake had been through hell and back. The girl's hair was disheveled, her clothes were an absolute mess with dried blood and who knows what, her blade needed to be sharpened, and her eyes had such huge bags under them they could've been actual people. Blake just looked… haggard.

Weiss didn't know what to do. Here was one of her best friends sleeping for the third time -the second time had to be ended quickly when Blake got a nightmare. Weiss realized in pain and horror that she couldn't do anything to make things better.

It was actually Blake that volunteered to investigate a group called Reticio. Weiss found out that Neptune and Sun had started the group to help the faunus that were being targeted by everyone. She felt her heart swell with pride. Neptune has managed to do something in this dangerous country, and all she had to show was that her daddy had enough money and influence to send her somewhere "safe". What thoroughly confused her was that Blake was against what they were doing. She was happy that Sun didn't let her talk him out of doing the right thing.

"But he could be killed."

"He's faunus, Blake. _You're_ faunus. There's nowhere in Vale or outside that won't get you hurt. These are dangerous times, and you know that. Imagine the kids that could be hurt, Blake. This is a good thing. Why aren't you happy? This is something you would do."

Blake huffed. "It's Adam, okay! You don't know what he can do. I've fought beside him, Weiss. I know how merciless he can be. He was nice, then. Now, he's even more of a monster. He's the one that hurt Yang."

Weiss was shocked and a coil of anger wrapped around her stomach. " _He's_ the one who stabbed you and hurt Yang? What is he like? You never told us he was the _leader_ of the White Fang. Tell me about him."

Blake shook her head, like she was trying to erase something from her memory. "N-no! I have to protect you from him. He said that… he said that he would hurt you all in front of me. I can't let you get hurt like I did with Yang. I need to protect you all."

Weiss was angry. "You can't do that. I thought we were friends. This is something I need to know. What if I meet this guy? What do I do? Wait until you magically save me from the guy who's so scary he can-"

Blake looked at Weiss, and just hung her head. She looked exhausted giving in to Weiss' demands. But that hardly mattered. Weiss deserved to know the monster that hurt Yang. The monster that helped break up their group. She needed to know what weakness he might have. As Blake began explaining her ex-boyfriend who was creepily possessive of her, Weiss could do nothing but stare as Blake hugged herself. Adam was strong. Adam was powerful and didn't take well to failure or insubordination. He was everything she imagined Cinder to be. Someone so powerful that only team RWBY in their prime could beat him.

They needed to find Ruby and Yang pronto. They couldn't dwaddle anywhere if they were going to nab the guy that could do what Blake told her. He had a powerful semblance that could destroy entire buildings. The only drawback was that he needed time to prepare such a power. If they had enough time to fight him, they could get rid of Adam. Adam was a crucial piece to Cinder's group. Without him, they wouldn't have the cooperation of the White Fang. Without a leader, the White Fang would disband and the battle would be half won.

First things first, though. "We need to find Ruby and Yang. After we find them, we need to see Neptune and Sun. If they are fighting the White Fang head on, then they need a lot of help. And they need to know who the leader of the White Fang is." Especially Sun. He needed to know that Blake wasn't against him, but that he might be killed fighting Adam.

Nothing good could come from not knowing the enemy. If the White Fang came to Vale just to finish off an upstart group, then Weiss would know where he was and his intentions. He would only come here for one reason, to find Blake. And with the way she was now, he wouldn't have any problem hurting her.

* * *

Yang could see about six of them. Six bandits, or whatever they were, were currently hunting two faunus. One was a tall boy and the other was obviously a toddler. She felt disgusted at the view. The bandits were saying something that was putting the faunus boy on edge. He put his little sister -maybe -behind him. He said something back, puffing up his chest like he could back his words with action. The six bandits didn't seem perturbed, and made a loud, obnoxious laugh.

Yang still had her gun, but it only had four bullets left. She checked her dexterity and wasn't satisfied. It was too off. She would most likely miss three of the four bullets if her luck kept up as it usually did. _Come on, Yang! Focus!_

One of the bandits kicked the boy hard in the chest. The boy fell backwards and coughed hard. The little girl cried, running to her brother. The six bandits crept closer, relishing in making a child feel fear. Yang felt her heart beat incredibly fast. It was beating so loud and hard that she felt it would burst from her chest. She couldn't sit here and watch these monsters hurt two kids.

 _"Come on, sis. You got this. You'll protect them; just like you've always protected me."_ Yang heard Fake Ruby's voice. She held the pistol up and aimed. Her aim was steady; her breathing calm. Her heart beating hard. None of it made sense, but she was fine with that. All she needed to do was get those kids away from here.

She aimed the gun on the leader's head. He must've been the leader. She didn't care much because she squeezed the trigger hearing the loud bang that hurt her ears. From the look of it, it hurt the faunus children's ears too. That didn't matter because the leader dropped, opening his mouth as if he were gasping for air. The shot didn't hit his head. It hit in-between his clavicle. His friends dropped to the ground, but two of them looked around in the opposite direction from her.

She smile at the rookie mistake. In the open area, the sound would echo and, of course, they would look the wrong way. She aimed higher this time. She aimed for the ones who looked for their attacker. She shot the bullet and it hit one bandit in the head. He collapsed immediately.

Yang didn't need to be told. She knew she had to change locations. One of the bandits looked near her location, and so she went the other way. She used her surroundings as a cover, thanking all those years of fighting alone. All those years of practicing against grimm after Raven saved her and Ruby.

She saw the bandits yell; the two kids were quickly blamed for their fallen comrades. She breathed in. Okay, so she'd shot two bullets and had -surprisingly -nabbed two of the suckers. She wasn't in tip top shape to actually fight four on one. Not without her arm. She had the sword and her knife she kept just in case. Her priority was the two kids. They couldn't be hurt. She peeked at the four bandits. They looked around without any control, except one who crept behind a child. Observing the area.

Yang cursed. He would be the one to find her position. She would have to make good on these next two shots. Failure meant death for her and those two children. She peeked around the corner and aimed at the panicking one's head. The bullet hit him in the center of the chest, and he coughed hard. Blood immediately falling from his lips. He was probably saying something, but that wasn't Yang's concern. She aimed at the leader who stood slightly. She pulled the trigger, but the bullet hit the top of his shoulder.

He screamed, but pointed her location out. The new leader grabbed the older faunus boy by the hair, obviously using him as a hostage. She couldn't fail! Yang looked at the remaining bandits as the two lackeys ran towards her. One had two swords and the other had a hammer. Yang cursed again.

She pulled out her sword, and waited for them. _"The one with the hammer is inexperienced. He is also slow. He uses his hammer as more of an intimidation factor than a weapon. This works in your favor. However, he is powerful. The other one is fast. He will be a problem. Don't fight them both at once. You won't leave with one arm this time. Be patient."_ Fake Raven said, but Yang knew Fake Raven was just her. She knew all of this.

She waited as the fast one attacked twice quickly. She didn't block the hits, she dodged. The swings were wide and had power behind them. They were meant to throw her off guard so the hammer guy would finish her off. Instead, Yang rolled backwards and swung at the fast guy. He simply jumped back and re-evaluated his strategy.

 _"Change of plans. You'll have to take out the hammer guy first. He's the real problem. The fast guy is observing you, and will be overly cautious. He's probably never fought someone without another person doing most of the fighting. He's dangerous, just not right now."_ Fake Raven said.

Yang ran at the hammer guy, and dodged the fast guy's quick swipes. She stabbed the hammer guy's hand, making him drop the hammer, but he looked unperturbed. _Shit. He's a fist-fighter._ She rolled backwards, but sheathed her sword. _"What can you possibly do? You aren't exactly strong like before."_ Fake Raven snapped. She knew that, but she wasn't only good with her hands.

Yang had to fully concentrate on her opponent. The hammer guy underestimated her, obviously. She inched forward, and he sent a fast punch. _Oh, so he's not actually slow. Great._ She jumped on top of his beefy arm, and punted him. He fell, and she used his momentum to twist her legs around his neck. It was muscular, but she still had her sword.

They both fell, and Yang unsheathed her sword cutting deeply into the beefy guy's neck. She had to get this right! Blood spilled all over her legs. He choked, grabbing her legs, but it was futile as his strength left him. She almost relaxed until his partner screamed.

"Bolin!" He charged at her. Yang wasn't nearly fast enough to dodge or block. She was stabbed in the leg, and cut on the stomach and above her right eye. _"Focus, sis! You can do this!"_ Yang dug her feet into the ground and she could feel her semblance. She swung her sword so hard, it knocked one of her enemy's swords from his hand and her own flew. She dropped to the ground, sweeping the man's legs from under him. He dropped and she grabbed her knife and stabbed his solar plexus twice. He gritted his bloody teeth, but couldn't squeeze his hands around his weapon like before. He tried to get up, but it wouldn't work anymore.

Yang struggled to get up, she had to stop the blood from her eye. Head wounds always bled more, but she didn't have time to find a doctor. She had to save those kids, she had to save Ruby. She tried to stand using her discarded sword as a cane. She focused on the kids, but the bandit that was behind the kids disappeared somewhere.

She looked down at herself and saw that she was completely covered in her own blood and two others. The older boy ran to her. "Miss? Are you still there? Come on, Amy! Help me! We need to find Auntie." The boy said as Yang's vision went dark.

* * *

Mercury had found his last straw when Cinder sent him on a little "adventure" to find out information on a girl in red with a scythe. He was past his limit of playing games. He wouldn't die with Cinder when her boss appeared from nowhere to do some smiting. He didn't know who Cinder worked for, but the person had to be strong to scare Cinder even with the maiden of Autumn's powers.

He waited until early morning to leave. Night was cliche, and he wasn't running away like a coward. All of his things were already packed. The only thing he worried about was Emerald being a rat. She would be the one to snitch to Cinder.

But he already knew that Emerald would follow him. He opened the door to their abandoned place, and casually walked out. Emerald's heels clicked as she walked behind him. "So you're just going to leave? After everything that-"

"Please tell me you're not trying to guilt me. You? Surely, we haven't fallen into the depravity of hypocrisy." He said dramatically, but didn't stop walking away. She simply followed.

"Stop the theatrics, Mercury. Why are you leaving now? Now when you know no one will accept you. You are a monster. The White Fang know your face. Do you truly not know the depth of your crimes?" She said in that condescending tone. He knew far too well the consequences. He knew them when he agreed to this farce.

"I know better than you do. I'm not looking to be redeemed or forgiven. I don't need any of that. I'm just not going to be looking for a little girl we already beat." He said, casting Emerald a sneer. She couldn't be so blind as to think that they could simply waste time.

"If you leave, we'll be enemies."

"Are you upset about that?" He said, finally stopping from his march to freedom and looked at her. She looked angrily at him. "Am I not allowed to feel? We've been together since the beginning. You're my partner. We know everything about each other."

He looked down. He couldn't lie and say he wanted to be her enemy. Emerald may piss him off sometimes, but she was a friend to him. More so than Cinder even was. "I know."

"Then why now?"

"I can't be… this. Standing still and wasting time. I haven't gotten so much as a day's rest since before we met, and not even then. I can't be in one place like this. We stay here and the White Fang will start becoming uncontrollable. They're already too powerful. They were like that when we met them, Em; you know I'm right. We have to crush them before they think to wipe out all of us, including faunus." He shakes his head frustrated. "I never wanted this. I never wanted to condone killing an array of people. That's what this has become. Cinder's boss must know about this."

Emerald narrowed her eyes. She said nothing because there was nothing to say. So she simply stared in hurt and anger. "What am I supposed to say to Cinder?"

"Whatever keeps you from getting killed. Say I escaped at night. Say I stayed too long at someone's house and just bailed. She'll believe it. Just… don't die for this. Don't die doing something that represents the people you hate." He said and she looked like he slapped her. He played on her past from being a thief because the system was screwed.

She didn't say anything, but she turned her back. "Hurry up. Go before she wakes up."

He left without another word. Saying "see ya" or "goodbye" seemed too final. He would see her again, even if it meant that they would be enemies.

* * *

Sun and Neptune stood before Glynda and James. After Neptune had gotten back from the search, Sun had told him the good news. Neptune had gladly agreed to the decision; however, some didn't want to leave. Sun volunteered to stay behind because staying at the taken over facility wasn't safe. They simply waved him away, and told him to keep doing his job. They needed to find their families. Some of the others gave him custody of their children, begging him to keep them safe. He promised because they needed him.

Sun had memorized all 26 of their names. If something happened to them, he would be responsible for getting 26 people killed. Even if they refused to leave, he still felt like they were his people. They hadn't joined Reticio, but they were still civilians who needed protection.

Neptune had done most of the talking, while Sun admired the mansion that James procured. It was amazing and big. The place had so many rooms that it felt like a hotel. Everyone edged carefully into the building. He could already predict that most wouldn't be able to sleep tonight or the next. He knew he wouldn't be able to.

The only time he'd been comfortable in some high-class place was Beacon, and he didn't even stay that long. This place felt above him. It felt like he would never have been able to obtain such a luxury unless someone took pity on him. Sun profusely thanked James. Without him, these people would be in that facility still, sleeping on a hard floor. He knew the floor was hard because he slept on it, too. All beds had been given to the elderly and pregnant people. His group didn't consist of just faunus, it held people who couldn't live without protection. Protection that would've still been given if the White Fang hadn't ruined everything.

His thoughts flitted to Blake's rejection and off-personality. He shouldn't have been so cautious. He couldn't help it. All the anger of being left behind seized his compassion and happiness. She had abandoned him, and couldn't even say "I'm glad you're safe" when they met back up. Neptune had tried to make things better, but it wasn't something he could fix.

"Sun?" Someone's voice said, snapping him from his thoughts. It was Glynda. He inclined his head to her, telling her she had his attention. She leaned back, obviously concerned. "Are you okay?"

He couldn't lie to her. If he started, he'd never stop. Lying always made him feel disgusting. "No, but it's nothing really." And his feelings about Blake's visit were nothing. They didn't help him protect these people, or accept that most wanted to fight the White Fang.

Glynda nodded slowly. "If it ever becomes something you can't handle, you should talk to someone. James and I talk to each other when our thoughts are too much." She turned her head. "Just a thought. Anyway, we've done some digging and discovered that your group has gathered the attention of the White Fang."

His heart felt like it was being squeezed by her words. "We don't know if they, the White Fang, will attack your group. There are so many like it, but you took down a facility. That's a first. So we'll be gearing to fight them if they want to bring their fight here."

Those 26 people… he couldn't guarantee if they'd be there or somewhere else. He wanted to panic all out, but he couldn't in front of Glynda. "Are your people prepared to fight with us? We've gathered some hunters to fight with us."

"Yes, we're ready." Tomorrow he would check on those people that left. He would try to persuade them to stay with him. He couldn't fail.


	7. Chapter 7

**Warning: Graphic Violence**

 **Next week, there won't be an update since I'm writing chapter 8 and 9 at the same time.**

 **I apologize for the chapter feeling so disjointed. My brother's goddaughter us over, and she's super attached to me right now, so I couldn't give 100% on this, but I promise to give 100% on the next two chapters.**

* * *

Adam Taurus was the leader of the White Fang. He was a powerful faunus who rose from the bottom of the societal food chain and became the best. He had taken down Beacon and now he was on a mission to destroy other factions (academies) that sought to oppress faunus. Discrimination wasn't lost on him where faunus were concerned. It was his moral obligation to save his own. So why was he stuck doing grunt work? To stop these upstart organizations from thinking that they could kill his people and destroy his facilities.

Adam walked past his men and women faunus. All of them obediently bowed their heads. Some glanced up at him with pride and others with fear. He didn't care very much that some needed an _incentive_ to be motivated into submission. They didn't know the brutality of people who had no one to blame. They didn't know what being powerless in a world that wanted to punish someone was like. Did they forget? Did they forget that -while they lived in cozy homes, blinding themselves to the racism -the rest of the world didn't want them there?

He was disgusted all over again. It was why Blake frustrated him so much. She acted like them simply protesting peacefully would ever change anything. People needed a common enemy to fight. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. With the academies being taken down, people would finally get over their hatred. Especially when they saw that the faunus were the ones to do it.

For his vision to become a reality, he needed people to stop getting in his way. Adam chose two people from near him. "We're heading out." They would demolish those who stood in their way.

Adam entered his vehicle and his two followers sat opposite to him. Their faces remained blank, alert. Adam wasn't a tyrant. He gave his people everything they could need and want. He made sure they had medical assistance when they needed or wanted it. He made sure they had homes that were well protected from their enemies. He did everything he possibly could to make them happy. Taking some of their family members might have been wrong, but he didn't -in any way, shape, or form -treat their family badly. He gave them as much comfort as he could. Some even thanked him. He was, after all, trying to make the world safe for them.

The vehicle stopped and his followers got out first. He exited the vehicle as well. What he saw was appalling. A bunch of humans grabbing weapons. Some faunus stood among them, and he was disgusted. How could they get along with these monsters?

His eyes scanned all of them, thinking about all the ways he could kill these traitors, until his eyes focused on one little girl. She wasn't so much as a little girl, just the youngest among the group of adults. She probably thought she was an adult who could make decisions for herself. But that wasn't what drew his attention to her. It was her eyes. They were bright gold. Eyes that looked almost identical to Blake's. It didn't help the nameless girl that she had black hair, never mind that it was shoulder length.

The sight of her made his muscles tighten in fury. She probably thought like Blake does. "Eliminate all but her." He said to his two followers. These people were from Reticio. They were the ones who mocked him relentlessly with taking his facilities down, and now they mock him with this clone of his Blake.

He stood back as his two underlings took care of the group. Adam couldn't tell how many had been in the group originally, he didn't really care much either. His eyes just focused on the irritable girl who stared defiantly back at him. He saw her anger and hatred, it was undeniable. Her attitude was too much Blake's. Sure, he loved Blake, but that was in the past. Now, he just wanted the cat faunus to experience the pain he felt when she left.

Everyone around the girl had been killed. Adam sauntered to the girl, and saw her shake in fear, but her face held that obstinance. He commended her. He never had to do much more than walk for people to either attack wildly or submit in fear.

"I was going to kill you last." He commented aloud for no reason. Her chest puffed, showing her holding her breath. She would probably pass out from the lack of air before he could actually show her the price of defying him. "But I changed my mind. You… you will be my message."

"Don't touch me." She spat, and Adam sneered. "Please, don't think so highly of yourself. I'm not _that_ desperate." He simply touched his sword's hilt and sheath. His two men backed away, knowing what getting in the way of his attacks could do.

Before they could blink, both of the girl's arms lay on the ground. Blood -naturally -spurted everywhere as the girl released a sharp, shrill shriek that was abruptly cut off with her eyes rolling into her head. She collapsed onto the ground. "Seal her wounds. If she survives, I want our brand there. If she doesn't… well, the message seems clear enough." He said while climbing back into his vehicle.

He almost wanted to wait for their leader, but after this the group would quickly disband. Either that or they would attack him full-on. People are so incredibly dumb like that.

* * *

Emerald knew that Cinder was extremely angry. Like piping mad, but as usual, Cinder never showed her emotions to Emerald outright. When Emerald told Cinder of Mercury's betrayal, she honestly thought she would be the one to suffer the consequences. It spoke volumes of Cinder's self-restraint that Emerald hadn't become a smear on the grass. Despite hearing some unpleasant news, Cinder didn't waste any time in proceeding wherever it was she was headed.

So, curiosity won over Emerald's usual patience. "Where are we going?"

Cinder simply chuckled. "I'm going to see someone very important. You are going to wait for me to come back." Emerald could hear the unspoken words of if I come back. The only person who could strike this kind of response in Cinder would be a maiden, Ozpin, or her boss. Emerald wasn't in a hurry to meet any of those people.

Cinder walked into a fancy hotel. Emerald was a master of illusion, and could usually sense when she was under one. This must've been a super elaborate one because there wasn't any way she could be walking in a forest and then hit such a fancy hotel.

The lobby was beautiful with a mixture of white, red, and a soft pink. Everything seemed so Valentine's day-esque. Before reaching the main desk, Cinder pointed to a comfortable chair with pink fluff around it. "Just wait here and I'll be right back. Just… try not to eat anything." With that weird warning, Cinder disappeared into a room. _What the hell was that?_

Some guy walked into the hotel and he saw her. He bee lined towards her like he was determined to speak with her. "Do you know? Well, do you?" He demanded, and Emerald's eyes widened a bit, but she didn't say anything. What was she supposed to say to a man that looked heavily intoxicated besides "go away"?

"Tch. Of course, you don't know. You're the Master's dog's pet. You're practically nothing in the grand scheme of things." He said dismissively. If Mercury had been here, the man would've been goaded into doing something stupid, but Emerald was curious about what he was saying. Was he talking about some hierarchy with Cinder's boss?

"Great, you've got that stupid look they all get. Let me give you a hint: every person is somebody's bitch. You might think you're on top of the world, but somebody will always be there to kick you off your pedestal back to the poverty you loathe." He sneered, looking around pointedly.

Emerald's eye twitched at his word usage. Why was he telling her this? She still didn't speak to him, but it disgusted her all the same, being spoken down to. She wanted to so badly to make him feel little, but he was telling her something underneath the unnecessarily harsh words. Was he saying that Cinder's boss wasn't as powerful as she seemed? Was he saying that Cinder wasn't as powerful? It was moments like these she wished Mercury were here. He hadn't even been gone for a day, and she missed him like a limb.

Another person walked into the lobby. He didn't look at the newcomer, but the newcomer smiled. "It's been a long journey, friend. Are you hungry or thirsty?" His voice was like honey, and the pastry he presented from nowhere was very enticing. Except the warning from Cinder popped in her head. She shook her head and saw the lines of an illusion around the pastries. What were they?

The Conspiracy Theory Man took a blurred cookie, and munched on it. His face read delight. "These are so good! Did you make these?" He asked, and the newcomer smiled with a nod. "Try some!" The CTM said, but Emerald declined.

"I'm allergic to… uh, sugar." She lied, leaning away from the newcomer and their blurred food. Just as the smile began to crack on the newcomer's face, Cinder exited the room. She looked to Emerald with a raised eyebrow. "Let's go." She said, and Emerald jumped up to follow.

"I saw you made new friends." Cinder joked, and Emerald laughed nervously. "What were those cookies, really?"

Cinder looked disgusted. "You really don't want to know. I'm happy you listened, though. That guy was another colleague of mine. My boss… they have a range of people that work for them. My little… vacation was forgiven, but we have different plans. We're heading to the Kingdom of Mantle."

Emerald looked surprised. "We're taking over Atlas? Isn't that a little, I don't know, predictable?"

Cinder smiled. "Exactly. Atlas won't be the only one attacked. My boss has been busy as of late. When more of my colleagues arrive, the world of Remnant will fall."

* * *

Yang looked around herself, and saw nothing but a black expanse of nothingness. She tried to move, to make some sort of sound, but she couldn't do anything. She saw the darkness begin to cover her as well as a pressure. The pressure covered her chest and she coughed violently. She couldn't move. She could only gasp as one name filled her mind. "Ruby!" She cried out over and over again.

She closed her eyes, only to see the usual darkness brighten a bit. Yang immediately opened her eyes to see a pool of dead bodies. The smell was so incredibly bad. She never realized that a dead body could smell so horrible; that the smell of the dead lingered in her nose. She could feel a build up in her throat. Sheer signs that she was going to throw up everything in her stomach. The sight was somehow worse. The bodies lying on the ground were mangled, some were separated from their appropriate body parts. She lifted her left arm only to just realize that it weighed more than usual. It held her severed right arm. Yang immediately dropped the arm and stepped back from the mass of carcasses.

Yang stepped on something, and dreaded having to see what it was. When she turned, she finally did release the contents of her stomach. The face belonged to the faunus man in the clothes store that she had let die. The man she cut the back of the legs from. The man who she made watch as she killed his partner. The man she had greatly wronged.

She staggered from where she had gotten sick. Her legs seemed to carry her nowhere. It didn't matter because this must've been the prelude to the punishment she would receive for killing so many people.

"Yang! Come on, let's go." A soft, slightly ditzy voice called out to her. Yang turned her head to look into the eyes of her baby sister. To look into the eyes of the reason why she fought. When her eyes finally did land on Ruby, she noticed Blake, Weiss, and team JNPR. Her right arm was still there, and she felt at peace. Right behind them was the beautiful, iconic view of Beacon Academy in all its glory. Everything was perfect as it should be.

She took one step towards a truth she would rather believe in. Somehow she felt infinitely better. "What took you so long? We have class, you know?" Weiss said with her hand on her hip, mockingly annoyed. Yang simply laughed at the easiness. "I hope I didn't have you waiting that long."

Blake made her signature small smirk, and Yang wrapped her arms around Blake's shoulders. "This year is going to be awesome!"

* * *

Sun was so anxious to tell his people about the mansion. As he figured, he didn't sleep much, but the bed was comfortable enough. Some of the children didn't sleep either from being away from their parents. Some children looked downright exhausted, so Sun let them stay behind. He brought Neptune along, in case they didn't want to agree.

Yesterday had been so exhausting, Neptune had to give him something to go to sleep. He had no idea what it was, but it worked. Glynda had offered to go with him, but he needed someone watching his people. Plus, if Glynda went with him, James would be left to his own devices.

"Well," Sun said to Neptune, "let's get going." There was no use waiting any longer. With some luck, he hoped most of them left to find more facilities. The more facilities, the better.

On the way to the old facility, Sun couldn't stop thinking about how he was going to persuade anyone who was left over. His speech had to be elaborate and good enough. These people weren't easily persuaded even if it were something that could potentially help them. Like when had to convince one faunus that medicine could help people. They obviously weren't used to medicines, so he had to even do demonstrations. It was a little embarrassing, but he did it.

He was pulled out of his short speech when he heard someone gasp loudly. He looked up to see Neptune looked deathly pale. Sun looked out the window, and froze seeing the lone hand in a puddle of blood. He kept shaking trying to regain any sort of composure.

Sun approached the body part with wishful thinking. He wanted the people inside the facility to be perfectly fine so badly that he trembled. He almost fell, but he couldn't completely breakdown, not until he saw everything. He was the leader of these people. He had an obligation to make sure everything was fine. He had an obligation to protect everyone…

With a heavy heart, Sun turned the corner to go inside the facility and he felt his heart drop. It literally felt like everything in him dropped all at once. He didn't realize that he was on his knees with his head to his chest until Neptune hugged him. It was so weird having someone comfort him, usually it was the other way around. And the dreadful white noise stayed in his ear, blocking out every word said to him. He didn't know what to do, except watch all these people look for their loved ones with bated breath. Only most that waded through the sea of bodies and blood had their worst fears confront them head on.

As Sun looked around he saw one body that had been dragged too far from the rest. He tried to stand, but only stumbled. So he continued to quickly regain his balance when he saw a girl with long black hair. A cat faunus. A girl that reminded him so much of Blake he trembled to make sure she wasn't. He brought his hand to the girl's neck, to feel a heartbeat and his hand jerked from her.

"There are no survivors except this girl!" He yelled, snapping most from their grief. "Hurry and bring her to the car."

Sun could barely look at the girl. Her arms had been cut off by something extremely sharp and the nubs of her shoulders had been burnt closed. It hadn't been a clean operation, actually it was pretty obvious the monsters who did this wanted Sun to feel something. And he was pissed. He could tell who did this. The White Fang. They were the only ones who could do something this heinous, and to top it off, they carved their symbol into the girl's thigh. Sun was so thoroughly disgusted and angry. His semblance started to flare, but he contained it.

Neptune looked equally pissed when he saw the insignia. "This was planned. They did this for a reason. Why Reticio? We're hardly that much of a threat."

Sun turned to his friend. "We're about to become those assholes worst nightmares. They can't do something like this and not expect revenge. We _will_ wipe the White Fang off the map. We _will_ save the people captive." _And I will kill their leader with my bare hands._


	8. Chapter 8

**This is the first chapter of the two that I promised.**

* * *

After pointlessly walking around for days fighting grimm, Mercury realized the damage that taking down Beacon caused. If Signal fell as well, then Vale would be plunged into complete chaos. While he'd been with Cinder for the fights and to take money grubbing bastards down every peg, he didn't want to see this. This was what he'd fought so hard to create. And no, it wasn't worth even half the effort.

He wouldn't even try to justify himself, to not take responsibility. He'd been forewarned that what he was doing would change the world of Remnant. He just never fully grasped the gravity of what he was doing. Cinder never sugar-coated what they were doing. Hell, he had volunteered before she could even fully explain what she was offering. His stupidity astonished him sometimes. Emerald probably didn't think too much as long as Cinder needed her. Emerald was the type of woman to function only when she was needed. She pretended to be ruthless, but she'd been the most innocent of them. And he'd been the most foolish.

Mercury had seen what people without guidance did when in a panic. They attacked every faunus around the area, thinking they were a part of the White Fang. They even made some faunus into slaves. This went against the fabric of what the White Fang wanted. Surely Adam wasn't so caught up with his obsession that he forgot the reason he was a leader, the reason he even had followers to order around. But Mercury knew better. This fear in people only ignited Adam's bloodthirsty drive.

But Mercury wasn't a hero or a savior. He was the wrong person to go to for safety. So he continued walking until he heard of Reticio. Reticio was a renegade team of people and faunus that fought to protect those being hurt by lawlessness. The leaders of the organization were two children named Sun Wukong and Neptune Vasilias. Mercury knew them from team SSSN during the Vytal festival. They were a human/faunus duo who had been best friends even before the fall of Beacon. The perfect symbol to demonstrate peaceful unity between humans and faunus. All in all, it was a group with the White Fang's vision. Reticio just succeeded in delivering their message. A bonus was that the leaders never asked their people to fight, the people volunteered.

In Mercury's book, that made them 100 times more productive than him. While he had lauded his ability to fight, these two kids -his age -had managed to do that without killing and destroying everything.

Mercury had to get away from an organization that made his attempts to revolutionize look immature and pitiful. He would just say that he was affiliated with Reticio until people stopped asking. But he pitied Reticio because they were going against someone like Adam. Adam Taurus was a powerful faunus who still gave Cinder pause, even with the power of the maiden. Adam's semblance was frightening enough. Mercury wanted to avoid a fight like that. He was a firm believer of self-preservation. 

* * *

Neptune knew Sun was still fuming and disgusted over what they found. Neptune knew that was how Sun felt because Neptune felt the same way. Disgusted with the White Fang and with himself. While he slept in a mansion, complaining about the size of it, his people had been mutilated. Neptune didn't know whether it had truly been the White Fang or a horde of grimm. Either way, he was furious.

James and Glynda were prepared to attack at any moment with his or Sun's word. It was only because of Sun's interference that none of the children knew how bad the situation actually was. It was safe to say that they knew something was up either way. Especially when the adults were called away to dig graves, and the children would be told about the funeral of most of their parents. It was for the best that they were spared the job of digging their own parent's grave. Their pain would only put Sun in an even worsened state. He did believe that this was his fault entirely.

Neptune felt like a coward because he wanted to escape the craziness of everything, but he wouldn't. Not when his best friend and partner needed him the most. Not when his people needed someone to make sense of what was happening. Sun would've broken down days ago, but he refrained for Neptune's sake. Neptune could deign to do the same.

James sauntered up to Neptune and looked around the mansion's entrance. James sighed as if he was about to start a conversation he would sell an organ to avoid. "I know this tragedy happened only five days ago, but what do you plan on doing? Retaliating? Hiding? Waiting?" If James had talked to Sun, this would've been an argument to remember. However, Neptune was well versed in talking to people that said things that pissed him off.

"At the moment, we're allowing our people a chance to mourn the deceased. So I suppose we're waiting. They'll never be okay, but we can -at least - bury what's left of their loved ones." Neptune was adamant in his belief that everyone needed to, at the very least, bury their loved ones before catapulting themselves into a lust of revenge.

James looked like he wanted to argue, but agreed nonetheless. "Many hunters and huntresses have gathered after hearing about the tragedy. They wish to assist in burying the fallen."

Neptune nodded. "That would be acceptable only if they refrain from inciting violence. I want my people to mourn in peace." Neptune didn't trust James, of course. He would never let James manipulate his and Sun's people. They had been through enough. Reticio was a fighting group; it was an organization designed to shelter everyone. Reticio would never become James' pseudo army.

"Of course," James said. "Glynda would like to offer an ear." He put his hand on Neptune's shoulder. "In times like these, telling someone, even if they're a stranger, is relieving. You and Sun need to talk about this and maybe mourn yourselves. You're allowed to."

Neptune bit back tears. Because after everything that happened, it was hard to stay strong. To be the pillar that everyone depended on. All these people were slaughtered! Butchered! And Neptune complained about a _mansion_. Of all things to complain about, it'd been a _mansion_.

"Thank you." Neptune whispered. He knew he would talk to Sun about what happened, but he would never be able to forgive himself. James patted his shoulder and nodded. Neptune watched James walk away. No matter how much refused to think too much, he would always see that 14 year old girl, Sepia, who watched everyone be killed, and suffered losing both arms in the process. She was only alive by her own will. Just thinking about it made his blood boil.

Sun, however, was at Sepia's side 24/7. He was afraid that she would slip away, alone like she'd been when everything went wrong.

"I admire yours and Sun's ability to stay relatively focused. You didn't assemble your people, and you're even giving them time to think this through." A raspy voice said. Neptune turned to face a black haired, red eyed hunter. He could tell the newcomer was a hunter because of his predatory gait.

The newcomer smirked. "Name's Qrow Branwen. You probably know my nieces, Ruby and Yang."

Neptune's eyes must've brightened because the man laughed. "I take it you do know them."

Neptune was happy that one of their family members was fine. Neptune laughed as well. "Yeah, we're friends. Are they… you know, home?"

Qrow frowned, and scratched his head. "Actually, no. They've been on their own adventures. Ruby is with Team JNPR, and Yang is… she's alone."

Neptune only stared back in horror. Yang had lost her arm four months ago. There was no way she could navigate the hell the grimm and murders painted in Vale, alone. Most kingdoms wouldn't even allow people from Vale in their kingdoms.

"Do you need me to send a message through Reticio? I can if-"

Qrow made a small grin. "That'd be a load off, but that's not why I approached you."

"It's nothing, really. Sun would say the same thing. Even if they were my friends, I would still send a message out. Rest assured, we won't let you down." After all, it was Reticio's purpose to find people who needed help. Yang was a strong woman; he knew she would be taking care of herself. He couldn't afford to bury any more people he cared about.

* * *

Two days ago, Blake had found out where Reticio's sanctuary was after a thorough background search. The loyalty Sun and Neptune invoked was stronger than she could imagine. It reminded her of how the White Fang used to be. The sanctuary was a ways away from the facility, but it was close enough to Beacon Academy. No one would look for a sanctuary in a grimm ridden area. It didn't even make sense to Blake, but maybe that was the point.

Weiss looked excited to see Neptune again, which was understandable because before the fall of Beacon, Weiss had finally gotten the strength to ask Neptune out. He didn't reject her, and they started going out… kinda, but that arrangement was smoother than Blake's massive screw up with Sun. He probably wanted nothing to do with her now. Especially when he had an entire organization to run.

So here Blake was, standing before her maybe ex-boyfriend's current address. The mansion was humongous, but the mood was downtrodden. Something big must've happened, and that didn't bode well for Blake. What if something happened to Sun? Her last words would've been meaningless and caustic.

Weiss seemed to have similar thoughts as she looked around for someone to talk to. "Excuse me," she asked a woman carrying a shovel, "do you know where Neptune Vasilias is?"

The woman paused. "Mr. Vasilias is helping with the burials. I can tell him that you asked for him."

Weiss shook her head. "No. No. I'll help. Do you think there are extra shovels?"

The woman made a sad smile. "There are plenty, thanks to the hunters and huntresses arriving to help out."

Blake spoke up. "If you don't mind my asking, but what happened?" She asked slowly; almost afraid that Neptune had to bury his best friend, that her last words were superfluous.

The woman's eyes misted as she spoke three words. "The White Fang." She whispered and continued. "The first day we came here, some of our people stayed behind. The White Fang came to the old facility and… butchered our people. Mr. Wukong and Mr. Vasilias found one survivor. A little cat faunus with black hair. Mr. Ironwood and Ms. Goodwitch gathered some huntsmen to help bury the deceased."

Blake felt absolutely nauseas. She knew the White Fang had fallen from grace. She knew that they were despicable, but she thought that meaningless murder was below them. This… this was the tip of the iceberg. No, Adam storming into Beacon and hurting Yang was the tip of the iceberg. That _monster_!

"Unforgivable." She muttered angrily, and the woman nodded. "You said it. Anyway, the shovels are this way. It feels strange," she said in a far away voice. "Having to bury your husband, that is. He was four years younger than me. That should've counted for something. _Why didn't that matter_?" She sobbed, and Blake could do nothing to comfort the woman. "I'm sorry for your loss" felt empty; so Blake just hugged the woman. No doubt everyone had to bury a loved one. No words could comfort them.

 **RWBY BREAK BREAK RWBY**

Blake attended the funeral. She listened to Sun's apologies and his heartfelt sorrow for everyone that lost their lives. Sun addressed each family as well. It was difficult to watch. He and Neptune left after the majority left, knowing that the ones left behind would remain at the new graveyard for a long time.

As Blake watched Sun and Neptune walk away, she realized that their days of carefree childishness was gone. They would always have this as a reminder of why they couldn't do what children their age did. He was a leader now, and he had just experienced a heavy loss. Blake wanted to make him feel better, but he wouldn't want that from her.

Weiss walked straight to Neptune, taking the initiative, but it wasn't for her feelings. This was business. Reticio had been singled out by the White Fang, and it hit them badly. This declaration of dominance needed to be challenged. They couldn't allow the White Fang to simply pick them off like bugs.

"Neptune." Weiss said softly, and he flipped around. His eyes went huge. "Weiss." He breathed, like her name was fresh air.

"Sun." Blake said quietly.

"Blake." Sun said tiredly.

"We need to talk. It's about Adam. He's the leader of the White Fang. You need to know how they operate."

Sun's eyes narrowed. "Let's go into my office."  
Blake could tell that even without the tragedy, her relationship with Sun had expired. He didn't even have the time or energy for himself, or to even breakdown after experiencing something so tragic. She couldn't put him through her hurricane of emotions. All she could do was help him succeed.

* * *

Neopolitan was pissed. She'd been pissed for months, but she was still equally pissed. She had lost a very good friend to nonsense. Salem had lost a good member of her cause. She missed Roman and his humor.

After all these months of planning the attack of Atlas's demise, Neo had been told that she had to share it with Cinder. The very woman who took a three month vacation while everyone else was working. Neo had been given the _honor_ of finding Cinder, wherever she was.


	9. Chapter 9

**This is the second chapter I promised!**

 **Warning: Graphic Violence**

* * *

Qrow decided to do Sun and Neptune a favor since they needed all the help they could get. He decided to get Glynda, James, a couple of huntsmen to patrol the area. It was Qrow's way of saying "thank you". He knew that with more people looking, he'd be able to find Yang sooner. He was honestly stressed out looking from looking for Ozpin. The man was never a chatter box, even less so than Qrow was. Ozpin kept all his secrets to himself. Qrow honestly didn't even know where to start looking.

Qrow had better luck finding Raven than Ozpin and that was saying something because his sister knew how to hide. Her daughter was like that in some ways, impossible to find. Walking along an abandoned village that seemed to be becoming a forest was disheartening. He could only hope that Yang was better off.

Before Qrow could start a conversation with James, he caught sight of a black haired woman and green haired woman he remember fighting when they attacked the fall maiden. It was the woman that fought Ozpin. She would probably have a clue where Ozpin was. Qrow warned Glynda, James, and the huntsmen about the approaching enemy.

The faunus male she was with, turned his head to look at Qrow and smirked. Qrow took out his sword. Everyone quickly armed themselves. James took the job of leading the huntsmen, while the green haired girl took out her two sickles, that were also guns, and directed the faunus soldiers. The black haired woman smirked running at Glynda, who pulled her riding crop out and began firing her dust.

Qrow narrowly missed the speed of the redhead faunus' sword. The attack was so quick, he backflipped out of the way. His description was similar to how Yang described the asshole who took her arm. Qrow narrowed his eyes. This would be personal.

Qrow slashed at the faunus' neck, only to have it blocked. The faunus kicked Qrow, and shot his gun. Qrow moved his head, and jumped back. He couldn't afford to not go all out. Qrow let his sword extend into a scythe. Qrow got into position to make the faunus suffer.

"The name's Adam, old man. I've never met a human who could go toe to toe with me without semblance. I commend you for lasting this long, but playtime is over."

* * *

James dodged another faunus' sword attack. It was honestly getting annoying. He aimed at the green haired girl's head, but only managed to get her shoulder. "You really shouldn't have done that." She warned, and then she jumped.

James lifted his head, but couldn't see her anywhere. James pistol whipped the closest faunus to him, and then kicked another into the sword of their teammate. That's when he felt something cold wrap around his throat and dig into his skin, making it bleed. James quickly shot behind himself, hearing a pained gasp. He saw the girl appear behind him.

So she could create illusions. He would definitely tell Qrow and Glynda about this. The girl glowered at him, and turned her sickles into guns, shooting James in the ear. He spun out of her grasp, and kicked her back. He could already see this going south for him. He beat her in power, but she had quicker attacks. The only reason why he was dealing her so much damage was because of all the distractions. He would have to be careful.

* * *

Glynda didn't know why this girl was here. She seemed to find the black haired woman everywhere she went. This was the woman who orchestrated Beacon's fall. She was the woman who killed a maiden. She was the woman who was about to experience Glynda's wrath.

The woman, Cinder Fall, a past student, was an extraordinary fighter. Glynda hated that she was having any trouble. Glynda cartwheeled out of Cinder's arrows. Cinder ran to Glynda, and then started to use her daggers. Glynda used ice dust to block each attack, until Glynda used explosive fire dust to push the treacherous woman back from her.

Cinder took the opportunity to use explosive fire dust, making Glynda jump back. Cinder then jumped back shooting three arrows. Glynda blocked them, but didn't see the glowing arrows. Glynda quickly shrouded herself in wind dust, and blew the blast away from her.

Glynda looked around for Cinder, and saw her assisting Emerald Sustrai in fighting James. But her eyes were locked on the faunus boy fighting Qrow. They kept clashing blades, but she knew that the fight would never cease at their aggressive stalemate. Both had similar fighting prowess and experience as well.

She combined her wind dust for swiftness and her ice dust for power. "Qrow!"

* * *

The faunus, Adam, was glowing red, and that didn't bode well with Qrow at all. He swung his scythe in a circular motion. Adam grunted while jumping back. Qrow saw his moment to finally take the bastard down.

"Qrow!" He heard Glynda's voice say, and saw Adam smirked, glowing even brighter. Qrow turned and rolled out of Glynda's blast. Qrow looked at Adam, and immediately ran to Glynda's side. He didn't know what type of attack would be unleashed, but watching all the dust be absorbed into Adam's sword was a numbing feeling. He retracted his sword, and held his sword to block while he covered Glynda.

In an unbelievably wide attack, the forest was half destroyed, and the entire village was leveled. Qrow coughed hard, and felt an incredible pain in his side. He tried to gasp, but the pain intensified. He grabbed his side feeling a lot of his side missing. A white noise threatened to render him deaf. He refused to fall to his knees while he watched Adam, the two women, and a couple wounded faunus retreat.

As soon as they disappeared, Qrow fell and his vision danced with black dots. It was oddly nostalgic to see the dots, and to feel this pain. It reminded him of when he lost his eye, except the other guy had suffered a lot, too. It was grating to not have killed the bastard that hurt his niece.

* * *

Ruby had come to depend on her new team like she had her previous one. But at times she questioned everything about herself. How the short fight between her and Cinder even went down. When she had asked her dad and Uncle Qrow, they said it was because her eyes were silver. Did that mean so much? Did that make her… special?

When no one was looking, she would glare into a mirror. She hated her eyes, and she loved them at the same time. They were what made her different from her family, they were supposedly powerful and coveted. They were also the only physical characteristic that Ruby shared with her mother. Summer Rose was always a respected person in her household, but it wasn't like her memories were too strong. Yang always knew more about her mom than she had. Ruby remembered being younger, begging to brush Yang's long, beautiful blonde hair. Yang would always agree because Ruby was her precious baby sister. Yang had seldom denied Ruby anything. Ruby remembered brushing Yang's hair, and having Yang recount a simple story of their mom. They never spoke of Raven though.

Uncle Qrow would talk about Raven, but as far as Ruby cared, the woman who made Yang melancholy didn't exist. Yang never spoke of Raven, in fact, she pretended that Raven didn't exist. So when Uncle Qrow started talking about Raven during the Vytal Festival, she wanted to change the subject immediately.

She silently sighed. She missed her sister like no tomorrow. She missed being at Beacon. Stop that! She needed to stop living in the past. She had to get things together. Jaune had worked hard to keep his team together, even if they didn't appreciate the work he put into his occupation. Her breaking down would make them think she was a child, some weakling that always needed to be protected.

Even with that thought, she decided to go to Beacon, for nostalgic purposes. She was doing this revenge thing for Yang, of course, but it wouldn't do anything bad if she went to the abandoned place. She had wanted to ask what was going on at Beacon, but because she didn't want to run into any informants, she avoided towns. She didn't want Nora and Ren to get on Jaune's case again.

Ruby looked at the trees, and watched her pseudo team walk together, but they weren't at all together. Ruby grabbed Jaune's shoulder, patting it. "Can you help me…" Her voice trailed off as her eyes connected to ice blue ones. She saw the golden eye cat faunus next to her best friend.

Ruby couldn't contain the tears. She sped towards them, tackling them both to the ground. She hugged them tightly, hearing the scolding voice of Weiss, and feeling Blake patting her head. She missed this. She breathed, but it was so shaky that she cried all over again.

 **RWBY^BREAK^BREAK^RWBY**

Apparently, while she'd been witnessing someone get murdered and destroying grimm, Sun and Neptune had created an organization that was made to make things better. Despite how bitter her tone was, she was really happy for them. Except she felt horrible because so many people were killed by the very group of people who hurt Yang. Apparently, the second person she needed to kill was named Adam Taurus, the leader of the White Fang.

Weiss and Blake had been asked by Sun and Neptune to make sure the other Reticio shelter was still fine. Of course Ruby agreed. "Can we see then before we leave?" Her new team -which felt weird to say -needed to rest in a place that wasn't a forest or a deserted town. The new scenery would be hard to get used to, but they deserved a break.

Ruby watched Ren and Nora hold onto each other. She desperately wanted to know why they looked so tense. They didn't open up to her anymore than she opened up to them. It was hard to personally connect to someone whose defensive mechanism was laughing or growing quieter.

She looked at Jaune and saw the same empty calm he seemed to exude nowadays. Alike to the others, he seemed to coddle her, while training with her. It was weird because his fighting style was better. They actually fought furiously instead of training. He challenged her fighting abilities, and it frightened her. In a span of three months, Jaune -who could fight only a bit -managed to make her put in ask her efforts. Pyrrha's death must've driven Jaune to training nonstop. After his revenge, would he be able to be just Jaune again? Would they still be friends?

She came back to herself as she looked at a huge mansion. Nora gushed, and Blake quietly chuckled. Times like these… Except the nostalgic feeling disappeared at the graveyard. Just knowing that someone was murdered made her sick. She was a murderer too. Would Weiss and Blake know? No, of course they didn't. If they did, they would never be able to stand next to her, much less stomach her presence.

Weiss grabbed Ruby's hand. "Come on. I'll take you to Neptune. Sun's still not up for any kind of small talk unless they're Reticio or me, but he's visiting Sepia right now."

"Who's that?" Ruby asked, cocking her head to the side.

"The only survivor during the tragedy. What that monster Adam did to her… anyway, she looks almost identical to Blake. That could be another reason why he cares so much." Weiss said, but it sounded like she was muttering "even though he's ignoring Blake" under her breath.

Weiss knocked on a door, and heard someone say "come in". She opened the door to show Ruby a man that was nothing like the boy who hid his fear of heights or fear of water. This was a ruler. She could only imagine what Sun looked like.

"Neptune!" Usually, Ruby would never hug him, but it felt incredible to hug someone she knew. It felt incredible to know her best friend's boyfriend wasn't dead.

He laughed. "I just meet your uncle, and I've already found you. This is a good day How have you been Ruby?

Ruby's eyebrows shot up. "You met my Uncle Qrow? How is he?"

"He was fine. Um… weird question, but do you know where Yang is?"

Ruby's heart started pounding hard in her chest. "Wh-What do you mean? Where is my sister?" What if something happened to Yang? Where was Yang? Her heart dropped at a chilling thought. W _hat if Yang followed after me because I left without telling anyone_?

Neptune shook his head. "I don't know. Your uncle told me that he had been looking for you and your sister. You're with Jaune, Nora, and Ren, right?"

"Yeah, I'm… kind of their leader now, but Jaune's the real leader. Nora suggested we be called RNJR, Ranger." Ruby deflated. "Do you know where she is? Is she…" Did someone kill her like I helped murder someone's dad?

"I don't know that either, but I'm sending Weiss and Blake to another Reticio shelter to check on them and spread the word about Yang. The people here are all willing to help."

Ruby felt slightly reassured, but her revenge took a large step back where Yang was concerned. Jaune would understand if she started asking around for Yang. Of course they all would.

* * *

Mercury was sure he'd gotten as far from Reticio as was possible. The further from them, the further from everything involving the White Fang and Cinder. He knew he wanted to stop the White Fang because their indiscriminate murdering was not on the list of things he condoned. Now that he was away from everything, he had time to think about what he wanted to do. Of course he didn't have any idea what he wanted to do, but he strangely liked having the opportunity to choose, and not having any idea what he would choose. This freedom was so new.

He was a little embarrassed, getting so happy over something like being able to choose his next destination. It was such a new, amazing sensation. He couldn't remember ever feeling like this sensation.

Mercury walked into a huge clearing in a forest. There was a backpack on the ground, so he picked it up. The backpack felt light, but was stuffed to the brim. He got curious, and opened the bag a bit. It was full of canned food and women's clothes. So this bag belonged to some woman. He looked around, hoping the bag's owner wouldn't hit him over the head for touching her stuff.

Mercury searched for the owner and found nothing. Why would someone have a bag full of clean clothes, and then just ditch it? Had its owner been killed or kidnapped? In any case, Mercury left the bag where he found it. He wanted to pilfer through the bag, and take the food, but he chose not to. He wasn't that desperate for food yet.

He walked around some more and found a village. The village had a lot of people, most looked like fighters from their weapons of choice. Maybe he could find out where he was exactly and create a map of Vale.

He entered the village, and immediately had all weapons facing him. _What a warm welcoming_. There was nothing better than being shot at when, for once, he hadn't done anything wrong. He didn't bother raising his hands, or offering some excuse for walking by.

A buff woman with her red hair tied back came out of the building closest to him. She had a huge battle axe. He shifted his feet. Intimidation made him antsy and sarcastic. He was more prone to pissing off people if they thought they could point a weapon in his face. He _just_ got away from senseless fighting.

"Are you a member of those traders?" She demanded. Great, no matter what he said, it wouldn't be enough to talk his way out of suspicion.

"No, I'm just traveling around. Just figured someone could tell me where this is in Vale." He saw her frown.

"Where are you from? You left Vale about three villages ago. You're on the outskirts of Vacuo." She leaned closer. "Are you trying to enroll in Shadow Academy?"

"No… I just remember being in Vale." He was surprised he walked that far from everything. It felt creepily like running away.

She seemed to question him more than before, but the hostility dropped from her shoulders. "Have you run into those into any traders?"

He shook his head honestly. She would help him create a map, so the least he could do was not lie to her. "I don't really know what you're talking about. I haven't heard anything about a trader. What do they do?" Why was she so against them? What did they trade?

The woman sighed. "Come with me. I will tell you all about the traders, but not out here." Mercury followed her inside the building she previously exited from. When he entered, he was bumped into by a faunus boy. He had bruises on his face. Mercury had mixed feelings about the bruises. Did these people attack this child? Was it the traders?

The kid apologized quickly. "Auntie, the Pretty Lady calmed down. She's been calm for two days now. Is that good?"

The woman patted his head. "She will wake. You just have to be patient, okay Pierre?" Pierre slowly nodded, and left the room disheartened.

The woman went to a table, and gestured for Mercury to join her. "It's probably your luck that let you avoid a trader. Traders are members of a gang called The Game. They do what they're called. They trade jewelry, clothing, vehicles, and even people. Pierre, my nephew, he and his sister Victory encountered a few a couple days back. A woman saved them, but she was badly injured. It was amazing that she took so many with one arm."

Something struck through Mercury's mind. "Was the woman… blonde?" He was just curious because he hasn't heard of many one-armed people. The only one he knew was…

The woman's eyes widened. "Why yes, it is. Do you know each other?"

More than he was conflate sharing with a stranger who trusted him. He simply nodded. "Her name is Yang. Is she alone?" It was strange. It hasn't been long since she lost her arm. Apparently, Yang took down a lot of people. Did the backpack he found belong to her? He would retrieve it for her. He knew the frustration of adjusting to a missing limb.

"Yes, she was. Since you seem to know her well, would you like to see her? She's been asleep for three days. Come, I'll show you the way."

Mercury followed her into a sunny room, he walked around the corner to see a sleeping Yang. It was an oddly tranquil look. Her body was wrapped almost everywhere. A sword was beside the bed she lay on, but no bag. As a wanderer, it was a rule to have luggage. So the bag had been hers. And traders wanted her dead.

If this was the result of her taking on numerous enemies after little to no time adjusting to a new fighting style and missing limb, Mercury was equally impressed and worried. She didn't know the pain she would suffer upon walking up. Mercury decided he would help her. He would kill the traders, and then he would leave. That way, he wasn't in debt with these people or Yang too much. He knew as soon as she awoke to his face, she would be pissed.

"Let me fix your trader problem. As thanks for helping me, and for looking over her." He could already see the woman not liking the arrangement.

"Just let me. I'll come back to show you I'm alive, and then I'll leave."

 **RWBY^BREAK^BREAK^RWBY**

Mercury was told that the traders kept attacking since Yang defeated them. The people of the village made sure the traders never got near Yang. So Mercury had to head north of the outskirts to see the trader group. They didn't know how many traders there were, but Mercury excelled in sneaking into places and taking them down from the inside.

It was already night time, and he knew the group didn't have any faunus working for them. Mercury scored it the place, feeling a sense of thrill. Doing something for someone else and himself always felt good, but to know he would be rewarded instead, of hated, felt amazing.

After walking throughout the outline of the building and inside, Mercury discovered there were only five. He quickly found the leader. He was the one blurting out numerous strings of profanity. Mercury decided to just listen in on the conversation.

"-that stupid? Damnit! They won't allow us any reinforcements until we tell him the threat. How the hell am I supposed to tell him my team got trashed by some blonde bitch with one arm?" The leader paced back and forth, he just stared at one of his men. "And you, you idiotic dumbass, want me to them the truth. Do you hate breathing air that much? Hmm, you stupid…" The combo lasted for a good five minutes.

The entire team was disoriented and a mess. The boss want respected by anyone, the group didn't like him at all. And most of the members keep observing their partners like they were sizing them up for their funeral. There was no trust or unity, and that was Mercury's win.

He stepped out of the shadows and saw every face turn towards him. Mercury had to smirk at their surprised expressions. He was gonna have fun with this.

Before the closest trader could move, Mercury kicked the trader's knee in and in the face. There was a sickening crack that vibrated through the building along with a high pitched scream. The noise snapped the other four out of their bewilderment. They were probably wondering how much he heard and when he arrived.

Mercury had always excelled in fighting groups of people. It was actually his forte. Mercury ran behind the other two traders and jumped. He spun around one of their necks and snapped the trader's neck with his legs. Mercury kicked the other trader in the stomach, shooting off three bullets at the trader's face. The two trader's fell to three ground.

Another trader pulled out a sword, and swung it at Mercury who kicked the sword out of the trader's hands. Mercury kicked the trader's leg and throat, making the trader fall to the ground.

The noise of someone dying blended in with the adrenaline kicking in. These weren't people anyway; they were traders. People who sold and killed indiscriminately. It only half reminded Mercury of himself, which was a disgustingly accurate description.

The leader of the traders ordered the remaining trader member to fighting Mercury, and he couldn't blame the trader for putting a bullet through his boss's head.

"Are you Reticio, as well?" The remaining trader asked. Mercury had to admit he was extremely caught off guard. Reticio had people as far as Vacuo?

"No, I'm just a wanderer. Heard some people needed these guys gone. Why? Are you Reticio?"

The man shook his head. "No, but I've heard great things about them. I just wanted to know how you join them."

"Just assist them in saving people. They won't reject you for not being a faunus."

"Really? I was following these guys, looking for a great time and way to take them down. I was hoping that village they kept griping about would help me end them. Probably not my best plan now that I've said it out loud."

"That's for sure. Anyway, Reticio is in Vale, and that place is swarming with trouble. I'd be careful if I were you." Mercury warned, and the man nodded happily.

"Thanks man. What's your name? I'm Shiroi."

Mercury debated telling the guy his name. If the man said it in front of the wrong people, he'd ruin his chances of joining Reticio. But there has to be plenty of people named Mercury, so it wouldn't hurt to just tell him. "It's Mercury."

"Again, thanks man. We better disappear before done grimm pop up next."

 **RWBY^BREAK^BREAK^RWBY**

Mercury returned to the village by early morning. Only the red head woman was up. She had a look that was a mixture of sadness and relief on her face. "Thank you so much for helping us. I made you a map of Vacuo, if this is where you're headed. So you want to visit Ms. Yang before you leave?"

What would it hurt? He had nowhere definite to go. So Mercury climbed up the stairs to see the vibrant woman lying peacefully asleep. It was weird. He sat in the chair by her bed, and looked out the window.

Where would he go after this? Back to Vale? To Vacuo? He looked to Yang. Did she live in Vacuo? Was that why she was here? He poked her cheek, there wasn't a reason to do it, but he just wanted to. A hyperactive girl like Yang shouldn't be in a coma.

She jerked at his touch, and her eye flipped open. One of her eyes were wrapped, and her arm was immobolized in a sling. She tried to move, and could tell she was about to freak out. She wasn't fully awake.

She released a screech that had him covering his ears. The red haired woman rushed into the room, trying to restrain Yang. This only made things worse.

Mercury watched as Yang fought the woman with just her legs. The woman was flung backwards. "Let me." He said, posting the red head's shoulder.

Mercury gently smacked Yang's cheek. He wanted to release her from the bandages, but it wouldn't help her much. She blinked her eye again, and her face scrunched up into tears. He didn't say anything but he allowed her to cling into him while crying. When she awoke completely, he would explain everything to her. It was the least he could do.

* * *

 **Adam v Qrow is the third reason I wrote this fanfiction. Of course, Qrow didn't go full-out on Adam.**

 **Thank you for the review! It was really appreciated. Believe it or not, but it helped me write even though it's burning outside.**

 **Also, this will start updating slowly because I'm going back to college on the 22nd of this month, and I'm going to be super busy. But I will update this.**

 **I started another fanfiction called From Beyond - . Check it out, if you want. I'm doing some shameless promoting. :) That will also be slow to update, but I already have a couple chapters done already. The story started plaguing my mind for most of July; I only just now made a layout for the story.**


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